The Silver Heart
by Just-Me-and-My-Brain
Summary: Before becoming a full reaper, one must first spend a year training with a William Spears couldn't be more unfortunate when he is given the most difficult teacher in the reaping community, she's known for never passing a student in the last 100 years! But will he be the one to finally break that record, or will it be the record that finally breaks him?
1. The Announcements

_Hello, hello, hello! Thank you, one and all for clicking on this story (even if by accident)- feel free to look around, if you see anything you like, just read on (It'll get even better) This is my first Kuroshitsuji Fanfiction so I would enjoy it if you could be as harsh as possible! (Wasn't what you were expecting, right?) Let me know if something needs to be fixed. __**Give critique and help me improve!**__ Thanks! Have a nice read!_

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**Chapter 1: The Announcements**

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The large plain white room was filled with young people, chatting amongst each other in a dull roar while waiting with great anticipation for their next test as young grim reapers.

As they were the new graduates, passing the preliminary test before graduating school, their next goal was to survive a year of training with a private instructor to hone their powers before taking the final test to see if they were ready to carry out their existence as Grim Reapers.

There was not a single young adult in the room who wasn't anxious about whom their teacher would be. The "A" grade students would usually get the better teachers, then "B" grade students, and so on. And the better a teacher you had, the better your chances were to pass the final test.

William was by far one of the most anxious of the students. He was good at words and numbers and office kind of work, but put him out in the real world and he didn't have a single clue on what he was supposed to do.

He loathed himself for being a "B" student. He was smarter than probably 75% of the top students, but unfortunately he didn't have the fighting skills to prove he was as strong as them. Heck, he hadn't ever even picked up a real scythe for crying out loud!

The students have no idea who their teachers will be, and while most of them were okay, some of them were horrible; one way or the other on the scale. Some teachers would sit around, completely ignoring you for the full year while you struggled to understand anything. Others drove you into the ground with their teaching.

A whistle blew and with practiced and rehearsed accuracy everyone lined up, first according to his or her grade letter and then by his or her name. The teachers filing in as the students hustled around with silent panic

William pushed and struggled through the crowd to his spot, trying desperately to be perfectly in line like he was supposed to be. As he ran through the rows he spotted his open gap, speeding towards it and slipping in just as the doors closed.

In front of him stood sixty reapers, all talented in their field and all waiting to train a student to be as good as them.

"See that woman in the middle there?" A boy leaned in next to him from the left, nodding towards a tall, thin reaper with long white hair. William found her easily as she was one of very few female reapers and nodded back to the boy.

"That's the Silver Heart Reaper. She's legendary!" The boy's hushed whisper was excited and terrified at the same time. "She's supposed to be the hardest teacher around. Nobody's been cleared by her to test in the last 100 years!" William's eyes widened, as he knew that in order to even be allowed to take the final test, you had to be cleared for testing by your teacher.

"If I have to train under her, I won't even try- I'll just quit right then and there." The boy shook his head, obviously hoping that he wouldn't have to hold true to his word.

"Congratulations to you all!" The head reaper of the organization began talking, making both boys snap their heads forward. "You who have passed the test are now that much closer to becoming Grim Reapers!"

The students and teachers applauded, more out of politeness than anything as the fear in the room was growing with slow steadiness- everyone wondering which teacher picked them to tutor.

"I will now read the list of pairing for this year, once you hear your name, please find your instructor and follow them." The man pulled up the first sheet of paper.

The names echoed in William's mind although he never heard them, to much in a daze of worry to care.

The boy from earlier bumped his arm and he jumped; worried that he had missed his name. He looked around before realizing that they were calling the name of a boy second to them.

William nodded his thanks for waking him up before looking around; a chunk of the crowd had thinned out considerably as the "A" students had all left with their mentors. The Silver Heart was still standing, waiting for her student ominously.

"Adam Habell." The announcer called, waiting for the tall, bulky boy to step forward. "Guy Helier."

A tall, sly man stepped forward, smiling smugly as he waited for the student to approach.

William noticed the female reaper glare at him indifferent loathing, eyes flickering with anger as the man shot her a flashy smile before walking off with his student trailing not far behind.

The announcer waited politely for them to leave before calling out the next name.

"Alan Humphries." William's neighbor stepped forward bravely, squaring his shoulders although he was even smaller than William was.

"Theodore Eudo." The announcer nodded toward a slightly aged reaper coming forward on crutches, one pant leg swinging loosely as he came forward, a welcoming smile on his face as he waited for Alan.

"It was nice meeting you." Alan smiled and bowed quickly to William.

"Yeah, you too." William nodded.

"Hope I'll uh," He glanced to make sure his teacher wasn't getting mad. "See you around."

William nodded. "Yeah." He smiled, seeing that his teacher seemed to be even happier that he had to wait because his new student was talking to a friend.

Alan nodded goodbye before running up to his teacher, bowing deeply before slowly following him out of the room.

"William Spears." William felt his blood chill, breath stop in his throat as he told his legs to step forward. With much hesitation they did so. He tried to be brave like his newfound friend was, but found his body slowly shrinking into itself.

The announcer glanced at the list before looking back at him. "Constance Abery."

William felt his heart start beating again as confusion-replaced fear.

The announcer nodded toward his teacher.

One heart beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

William's eyes followed the man's nod and felt his heart freeze over from the ice-like substance his blood had turned into as he saw the female reaper step forward, gazing coolly at him as she waited for his approach.

He swallowed hard, unable to get his feet to shift as he stared with apprehension at the impossible teacher. _His_ teacher.

Slowly, after what felt like a lifetime, his feet started shuffling forward, eyes locked in a terrified fix as he watched himself march to what could be his death.

He finally reached the woman and looked down at her, surprised that she was only about 5' 4".

"Come with me." She turned sharply and started walking, quickly leaving William to hurry jarringly after her as she headed out of the door.


	2. The Interview

**Chapter 2: The Interview**

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William hurried to follow Constance Abery as they walked through the large doors exiting the room. The light in the hallway was less bright than the previous room and his eyes needed to adjust quickly as he focused on trying to leave a good first impression on his teacher.

He watched his teacher as they traveled quickly, wondering if that was just how she walked or if they were in a hurry. She turned abruptly to the right; leading to a hall that was so dark it left shadows in the main hallway.

William could feel the area grow colder and once the light had faded from the archway, he felt his arms instantly go up in hopes that he wouldn't run into anything.

He tuned into the woman's footsteps, following them, as he couldn't even see the tip of his nose at the moment.

"Wah!" He tripped over his feet, stumbling along the cold tile floor. His arms caught onto an object before he could fall, gratefully pulling himself up and hoping that the reaper hadn't heard or seen his clumsy mistake.

"Get off of me right now." A sharp voice cut through his hopes.

"Wah!" He jumped back, letting go of his teacher in embarrassment and shock, he felt his back hit a wall and stood there, trying to collect himself as the woman kept walking.

"If you're going to be this much trouble, you can leave now." A door opened up a little ways farther down the hall, spilling fresh sunlight into it and lighting his path as the older reaper held the door open to him.

William ran towards her quickly, hoping that there was still time to prove him worthy of being her student.

He slipped into the room under her piercing gaze and stumbled as he turned to watch her walk into the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

It was a well-lit, warm room. The walls were decorated with various paintings and were smoothly painted a rich, creamy white. A single wall at the back of the room stood with a bright, light pastel foam green, accepting the light happily. Bookshelves lined one wall and a meeting table sat near the back middle of the room. The invitingness of the room reflected poorly the growing sense of dread William was experiencing.

He watched her as she slowly moved toward her desk, sitting on top of the smooth, polished red wood, continuing to glare at him the entire way.

Spears heard a deep chuckle rise from behind him and he spun around to see another reaper whom he didn't fully recognize and whom he had missed somehow when scanning the room before.

A tall, skeleton-like man sat in the window seat, his pale skin and gray hair reflecting the light streaming through the large windows that lined one of the walls. His face held more contempt than the woman as he glared at him. His dark clothing covering his body only to reveal his thin hands and long, belted boots.

"Mr. Spears." The woman called his attention, watching him carefully.

William turned from his staring at the reaper to look back to the desk.

"Please, sit." She motioned to a pair of chairs in front of her desk, a small smile causing her sharp eyes to look more deadly as she ordered more than suggested that he sit down in front of her.

He quickly sat down in the chair, hoping to have her forget his slipup in the hallway. He saw her eyes pierce through his, shivering at the feeling.

"Now then," She looked at him, her eyes softening slightly when she noticed the tremor that shook his body with a slight shake. "If we're going to be working together for a year, I'd like to get to know you a little before we start."

"Huh?" William couldn't understand what was being said. He thought she was going to eat his heart the way she was looking at him. Or order him to go out and bring her back the heads of one hundred demons, armed with nothing but a whittling knife.

"Tell me about yourself." She restated, carefully watching him before letting her eyes flicker back to the man in the window.

"I… uh…" William felt his brain slow to a stop. None of his studying could have prepared him for something like this. "My name is William T. Spears." He questioned the answer he just gave, staring at his shoes.

The woman sighed with aggravation, patience level deteriorating while she stood up from the desk and began traveling slowly around the room.

"Answer the damn question!" The harsh voice snapped from behind William, causing his head to snap around.

The man from the window was now right behind him, staring down at him as his glasses reflected the light.

"I- I…" William felt his stomach drop, unsure of what they were asking.

"Undertaker!" Abery growled, pointing back to the window as she told him silently to sit down.

"Mr. Spears, I just want to get to know you a little. What are you like? What makes you different than all of the other students here at the academy?" Her eyes were softer than before, features no longer sharp as she stared at him.

"Um…" William searched for something he thought would make him unique.

"Do you play any instruments? Sketch? Play a sport?" Constance tossed out ideas, hoping one would catch in the student and ignite a spark of talking.

William heard the suggestions and shook his head; never having partook in any of the subjects.

Constance sighed, sitting back down on her desk as her face hardened again. "So you're just a zombie? Able to spew out useless facts and quietly get the job done without any kind of uniqueness? That's a shame." She frowned, glaring at him. "I have no use for students with no idea of themselves. You may leave. I dismiss you as my student."

"What?" William felt the heat from his blush drop out of his face, meeting his stomach wherever they had gone.

"You may go to the office and request a different teacher. There is still time to get someone. But I won't train you." She broke eye contact and grabbed a nail file from her desk, carefully filing her thumbnail.

Still in a state of disbelief, William rose to his feet, stepping towards the door with shock.

His brain was screaming at him but the dizziness in his head was muffling the voice, shutting it up as he stepped closer to the door.

_No! NO! _His mind tried to make him stop, to prevent his hand from touching the doorknob, but failed.

He pulled the door open in a daze; ready to cross the threshold when the fog lifted and the voice could be heard.

William turned around faster than he ever had before, eyes wide as he said the three most unsure words of his life.

"I play chess."

The woman looked at him in confusion.

"I-I-" He looked at Undertaker, who was sneering at him, clearly hating that he was fighting for his place as student. "I play chess."

"Chess?" The woman set down the file, staring at him.

William nodded.

The teacher motioned for him to sit back down, a small smile creeping across her face as she watched him approach.

"I- I mean, I'm trying to learn chess." William sat, feeling Undertaker's glare on the back of his neck, hoping that _trying to learn_ wouldn't make him sound like he was lying.

"You're trying to learn chess? Are you just starting?" Abery stared at him.

"No, no I started a year or two ago but I haven't been able to practice because of school." William explained, growing confidence fueling his ability to answer.

"Ah, well, I've never been able to grasp chess but Undertaker here," She nodded to the man. "Has played a few good games in his time."

William nodded, not bothering to look back as he knew he'd be greeted with a scorching glare.

"This certainly changes things, Mr. Spears." Constance looked at him, eyes not soft but not ready to rip him to pieces either. "Is there anything else you have to say?"

William shook his head miserably, knowing that chess was the only thing about him that he had any talent in.

"Well it's something." Abery shrugged, sighing deeply before standing.

"So, do you want me to go now?" William stood, feeling sick as he knew that he hadn't lasted even a day as a student.

"Where would you be going?" Constance raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you said that I might still have time to get a new teacher. Do you want me to leave?"

"Why would you leave when you have a teacher right here?" She watched his face go through several emotions before realizing her offer.

"You mean I can still be your student?" William smiled gratefully, happy as she nodded once as her answer.

"Now then," Constance motioned for him to sit once again. "I'll be showing you everywhere you need to go but first, you should know some things about me as well."

"My name is Constance Abery. You _will_ call me Miss. Abery or Ma'am. Anything else and I'll rip out your tongue." She glared, obviously serious.

"Yes, ma'am." William nodded, swallowing with effort.

"I'm easy to anger. Easier than him-" She nodded toward Undertaker. "So if you think you'll be able to joke around a lot, don't."

"If at any time I see that you are no longer good enough to be a reaper to my standards, I will dismiss you. Second chances are few and far between. If you are disrespectful towards me…" Her eyes flashed dangerously. "You won't be _alive_ to get a second chance."

William nodded again.

"Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." William swallowed, uneasy under her glare.

"Any questions?" Constance stood in front of him, eyes losing their ferocity gradually.

"Um… does- does Undertaker stay here? Is this his office?" William hoped that she'd say yes, praying that he wouldn't have to deal with the man who already hated him.

"This is _our_ office. Undertaker is a very dear friend of mine. Most of the time he will be working, but occasionally he will come with us to participate in our lessons." She nodded, obviously amused by William's fear.

"If there are no further questions, I'll show you where you'll be living for this following year." Constance walked toward the door, nodding in approval as William followed obediently behind her, glancing behind nervously as the grumpy Undertaker brought up the rear of the small, filing line.


	3. Home, Sweet Home

Chapter 3: Home, Sweet Home

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William T. Spears relaxed as they left the building, Undertaker and his teacher walking together ahead of him, Miss. Abery occasionally glancing back to make sure he was still there.

"That's the cafeteria." She pointed out the large building across the field. "If you're hungry, go there. I'm not responsible for your hunger… or for you to bring food to training."

William nodded, noting the placement of the building before following the couple in silence for another five minutes.

"The training center is in that building. We'll be going there almost every day unless something different is planned." She nudged Undertaker and he glanced at her before pointing at the building in question on his side with large windows and a brown stone exterior.

William nodded again, feeling his neck getting sore from the constant head bobbing. He took this time to look at his teacher and truly get an idea for what she looked like.

Constance Abery wore her white, shimmery hair in a low ponytail, a small black bow holding the hair in the long hairstyle. Her hair brushed against her back, coming close to her hips as she walked smoothly across the paved walkway. A single, thin silver chain was caught in the ponytail, sitting amongst her hair with a small heart dangling at the end.

Covering her body was a pair of standard-issue black dress pants and a black corset-like shirt that included small sleeves on her arms and a black collar around her neck to keep the clothing in place on her chest.

Her shoes looked similar to Undertakers besides being plain and having a simple lace-up method instead of buckles.

He observed her apparel and watched the sun slowly dance over her and the walkway as it tried to peak through the trees and reach the ground.

Undertaker glanced behind him, glaring at William through his glasses as he realized that the boy was staring at Abery. With a careful watch on William, the older reaper slowly wrapped his hand around the woman's waist protectively, drawing her in close to him as they continued walking.

Constance allowed Undertaker to pull her in, smiling slightly as she watched him glare at William. Walking alongside the other reaper she tugged on his jacket, averting his attention to her before she silently chided him for his attitude with a soft glare.

Undertaker sighed with frustration, frowning deeply before facing forward in their walk.

"The apartment you'll be staying at is a few blocks away from me. At some point I'll show you my house but currently you just need to remember where you'll be staying." She called over her shoulder, instructing Spears with the knowledge that he'd just nod and walk.

"This boy is a quiet one, isn't he?" She spoke softly to Undertaker.

Undertaker chuckled. "Maybe a little too quiet. We won't know it if he suddenly… disappears." He threatened lightly.

The woman elbowed him, her smile suddenly turning into a frown. "Be nice."

"But Tansy, why should I be nice to another punk student who's going to quit two weeks into the year?" Undertaker growled, his anger matching her own.

She sighed, "Because this kid's… probably different."

"And if he isn't?" Undertaker looked at her over the rims of his glasses.

"Then you only wasted two weeks being a grouch." Constance smiled, teasing the man.

William watched the pair as they talked, voices low enough that he couldn't hear what was being said.

They left the large buildings and continued down a street he'd never been on before. In fact, he didn't recognize any part of the neighborhood.

At the direct left and right to him were multiple small shops, all selling different things and all looking quite homey in the neighborhood. There were several apartment buildings they were approaching that were perfect for someone starting out in the area and farther down the road, small houses sat on green lawns. It was a nice area.

The walkway they were using continued on through the path, running alongside the brick-lined street. Several trees stood along the road, some between the sidewalk and street and several popping up in the yards and behind the buildings.

"This is where you'll be living for this year." Miss. Abery stopped in front of an apartment building that stood welcoming people with it's warm colors. She dipped her hand into one of Undertaker's pockets and fished out a small bronze key, looking at it for a moment before tossing it to William.

William caught it in his palm and opened his fist to look at it; a simple bronze key.

"You're in apartment 2." His teacher frowned, indifferent to the joy and excitement he was feeling at having an apartment.

"You have a bunkmate, but you shouldn't worry because I think you've already met." She turned around with Undertaker and began to continue walking down the road.

"Be at the training center by 8, tomorrow morning. Get a good rest, Mr. Spears, because you'll certainly need it." She called over her shoulder, leaving William to stand on the sidewalk by himself, wondering whom exactly he would be living with for the next year.

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Constance walked down the road with Undertaker, his hand still wrapped around her waist, although much more loosely than before. The cool, slowly warming air of the soft March breeze blew their hair around as they continued down the street, the houses slowly growing larger as they walked, losing sight of the apartments as they rounded a slow curve.

The walk to her house was silent, the closeness of the couple being enough comfort for them while they traveled.

"You really don't need to walk me all the way up here." She smiled, pulling out of his embrace and stepping onto the steps leading to her front door.

"I'm only a block back," He pointed the way they had just come from, smiling at her as his glasses momentarily flashed in the sunlight. "It's no trouble."

"Come in." She opened the door with ease and walked in, hearing the door close slowly as Undertaker shut it.

"Now then," Undertaker walked around the cozy living room before settling on the couch, glaring at her as she pulled the ribbon out of her hair. "I think we really need to discuss this new student of yours."

Constance groaned, letting her body fall on the cushion next to the man before leaning her head on his shoulder. "You do this every year, can't you relax a little?"

"Tansy, dear, I just want to make sure you don't get attached to any students. Especially this one." Undertaker muttered the last part under his breath although it was still obvious what he said.

Constance sat up, glaring at the older reaper. "What kind of problem do you have with Spears?"

Undertaker sighed. "I don't know. Something just rubs me the wrong way with him."

Abery watched him for a second before sitting back to think, trying to think of something that could have upset him about the boy.

"Tansy, don't worry about it." Undertaker rubbed her thigh before standing up smoothly, making his way to her kitchen where he knew she kept fresh cookies.

He smiled like a young child as he stuck his hand quietly in the cookie jar, feeling it come in contact with the sweet, slightly soft treat that he enjoyed with simple happiness.

Tansy slowly walked into the room, leaning across the counter as she stretched her arm out towards the jar for a cookie, she patently waited for Undertaker to fish one out for her and place it gently in the palm of her hand before starting to talk. "Abbot."

"What?" Undertaker looked up, recognizing the name but not being able to put a face to him.

"My student; John Abbot." Tansy sighed. "He looks like John." She suddenly looked very tired, defeated, depressed.

Undertaker sighed, setting the rest of his snack down on the counter before walking around the island and grabbing her into a tight hug.

"It _was_ some reason, huh?" Undertaker frowned, knowing that by realizing _why_ he hated the new student, he was able to focus a little more.

"Undertaker, relax." Constance pushed away from him, frowning in disapproval. "He's not John, and I'm fine."

In one smooth motion, the male reaper pulled her off of her feet and carried her back into the living room, sitting them both down on the couch.

"Fine? My dear?" He smiled, brushing his fingers through her silky hair lovingly. "You're not fine."

The woman chuckled as a smile split her face, knowing that there was no use trying to lie to a man who had known her for long enough to catch her fibs automatically.

"I just… I can't handle something like that again." Tansy frowned, shifting her position in her partner's lap.

Undertaker sighed, knowing how difficult this year would be for her if the boy decided to stick around.

"_Nothing_ like that will _ever_ happen again." Undertaker looked into her eyes, his promise being sincere with every fiber of his being. No matter how much he was annoyed by this jumpy, quiet, overly anxious new student, he would help protect him. If only to protect his love.

Constance studied him for a minute before kissing his cheek softly, resting her head on his shoulder as he continued to brush his hand through her hair.

"Darling," Abery piped up a few minutes later.

"Hm?" Undertaker had closed his eyes, not bothering to open them as his relaxed body made sleep enticing.

"I think that this is going to be a good year." Tansy was obviously also close to sleep, the last half of her sentence coming out in a mumble.

Undertaker chuckled softly, shifting his body to kiss her on the forehead before leaning back against the cushions. "If you say so… if you say so."

The couple slowly drifted off to sleep, comfortable in each others presence on the sweet, cool, March afternoon.

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_I originally had this being two seperate chapters, but upon finding how short both of them were, I decided to combine them. The reason for the last half of this was to give you an idea of Undertaker's and Consonance's relationship. (Which might be just as important as the rest of the story.)_


	4. Roomate of the Year

Chapter 4: Roommate of the Year

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William watched his teacher walk away, never casting a second glance at him as she left him to his own devices.

He turned and stared at the apartment building with apprehension, dreading his roommate.

Could it be Adam; who constantly tormented him through school along with his small gang?

Could it be any one of his gang; who also loved to torment him?

He swallowed hard, taking a step forward toward the doors. His feet moved in a shuffling fashion, hands clenched into fists in his pockets.

He inserted the key into the lock, hoping that it was the right key and would open the door.

With a calm _click_ the door unlocked, allowing him entrance into the hallway.

William looked around the cream and brown colored walls, mostly brick and tile. He also noticed his door, inviting him in with a strange sensation that made him walk slowly toward the wooden door situated at the forefront of the hallway.

Taking a deep breath he knocked. Once. Twice. And waited for an answer, hoping that- no matter who it was- they would already be here, as he only had the key for the building itself.

The lock shifted inside the door, causing William's heart rate to pick up considerably. Slowly the door creaked open, time slowing, as the young man feared the worst.

"Hey!" Time sped up again as the boy from earlier opened the door with a smile.

"Alan?" William tried to recall his name, hoping that that was correct.

"Yeah! Hey, wasn't sure when I'd see you again! Guess we get to hang out a lot now, huh?" The young man stepped aside, greeting him into the apartment.

"Wow…" William looked around, noting how precise and organized everything was. "It's so… perfect."

"Yeah, sorry." Alan scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I like my stuff to be organized, and I wasn't sure when you were coming so I just settled in."

"No, it's fine. The apartment looks great." He complemented, hoping to get off on the right foot.

"Yeah." Alan stood for a moment looking around before turning back to the fellow reaper suddenly. "Hey, I never caught your name." He stuck out his hand, waiting for the introduction.

"Oh! I'm William; William T. Spears." William grasped his new friend's hand, shaking it firmly before letting go.

"Your stuff is in your room on the bed. You're welcome to come hang out with me in the living room, I'm just reading a couple new articles right now." Alan invited, pointing toward the open area with his thumb.

William nodded, bowing before leaving; intent on finding his room and making sure everything was organized.

As Alan had said, his suitcase was sitting on his bed, ready to be unpacked.

The room was a simple white wash color with few accessories. A rich brown dresser sat against the wall next to the closet door, nicks and scratches in it told William that it had been here for a long time. A small nightstand sat next to the bare bed, sheets and a blanket folded up in the chest at the foot of the furniture.

William explored the room, unpacking his suitcase as he did so. He looked through the bare dresser, organizing his pants and socks and underwear into the various drawers. He glanced through the small closet, hanging his shirts and suit jacket on the rack.

Slowly and precisely when he was done, he stashed his suitcase in the back of the closet, hidden by his shirts, the luggage carrier would offer no eyesores.

William walked back around, digging the sheets out of the trunk and making up his bed before pulling two pillows out of the box, neatly placing them into their cases before setting them at the foot of the bed. A soft gray comforter was piled at the very bottom of the trunk, making the bed feel homey as the young man draped it over the mattress.

With his organizing finished, he slowly wandered out of his room, checking out the rest of the home before eventually setting down next to Alan.

"So how's your teacher?" William asked after watching the man read for a few minutes.

Alan set the book down, his goofy grin replaced with a calm exterior that seemed to fit him more. "Mr. Eudo's pretty cool. At first I wasn't sure he'd be anything exciting, what with his missing leg and all, but he's a really surprising guy." Alan went on.

"He's been missing his leg for half a century now. He lost it when he was fighting another, rouge reaper. He doesn't go out in the field anymore, but he has a lot of really cool stories."

"So how are you going to learn?" William concerned.

"He said that it'll be different, but he can still teach me by telling me what to do… I don't think it'll be a problem." Alan smiled, lifting up his book to start reading before another thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, were you around long enough to find out which sorry sap has to deal with the Silver Heart?" Alan smiled again, thinking of that misfortune.

"Yeah." William nodded, shy in revealing himself. "She chose me for her student."

Alan's smile dropped from his face like a rock, staring at William with shock and pity. "How… how is she?"

William sighed, allowing his body to relax against the back of the couch. "She's scary." He looked over at his roommate. "She gets mad really easily and really fast."

"Did she take you on as a student?" Alan asked, book now at his side, as he was more interested in the current conversation he was having.

William thought back to earlier that day, the woman almost kicking him out of the room. "Yeah."

"Was she mean?" Alan tossed out all of the questions he ever had about the legendary reaper.

"No, but I think the man she was with hates me more than life itself. He was looking at me like I was a demon." William frowned. "She called him 'The Undertaker'."

Alan's jaw literally dropped, his eyes growing wide as he stared at William.

"What?" William looked at him, confused by his reaction.

"William, Undertaker is… he's…!" Alan was the most excited William had ever seen him, and while that wasn't a long time, he could tell that he normally wouldn't act this way.

"What? What?" William wanted him to finish his sentence.

"You've met two legendary reapers in one day. You have to be one of the luckiest guys I know." Alan breathed, a smile slowly creeping up on his face.

"That's great and all, but they're teaching me. And both of them already seem to hate me!" William sighed, first day of a year and he was already stressed out. "Miss. Abery will just kick me out of learning if I upset her… but Undertaker looks like he's going to kill me the first chance he gets."

"He's known for being angry." Alan answered. "Undertaker's not a nice guy. But he's a great Reaper."

William looked at him questioningly.

"I took a class last year about legendaries and other well known reapers." Alan explained. "Undertaker came in for a day to answer questions. He looked like he had been forced to come… and he practically growled out every response he had to give. The guy looked like he was ready to kill everyone in the class."

William nodded with understanding, the acute feeling to yawn suddenly overcoming him. "I think I'll go lie down." He yawned again, eyes heavy.

"Okay." Alan had picked up his book again, distantly answering him as he got drawn into the story again.

William wandered back to his room, shutting the door before lying on top of the covers, body relaxing as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_I just wanted you all to know; this will __**NOT**__ be a William X Alan story. It will __**NEVER**__ be a story like that. I hardly ever ship characters and if I do, the relationship is usually already implied in the actual story line. _

_Alan is an actual character in Kuroshitsuji and I couldn't help but think that he and William would have gotten along very well because they have similar traits. I'm not sure when I'll introduce Eric, but he'll come into the story even just to mention him being with Alan._

_If you think that Alan H. should be added to the list of characters in the story, please tell me. I'm unsure as he will make appearances throughout the story, but is not especially significant to the plot._


	5. To Make a Dinner

Chapter 5: To Make A Dinner

* * *

When William T. Spears awoke, the colors of the room had changed; the open window inviting the colors of the sunset to light up his room.

Slowly he stood, stretching before opening the door to his room and wandering out into the dark apartment.

"Hey, you slept for a good two hours." Alan greeted him from the couch, obviously not having moved since William last saw him. The book he had been reading before was set on the table; a new book already having found it's way into Alan's hands.

William groaned in response, feeling his energy come back after the relaxing nap.

"Any idea what we're supposed to do for food?" Alan broke his eye contact from the book and looked at the other young reaper, obviously concerned with the issue.

"Is the cafeteria still open?" William asked, not sure what they would do otherwise.

Alan shook his head. "It closes at 6:00."

William looked at the clock. '7:30.'

He sighed, unsure of an answer.

"When I was out with Mr. Eudo, we stopped by the store and he got me some groceries. Some rice and a couple fruits… any ideas?" Alan set down his book, standing up, as he got ready for whatever suggestion William could give.

William frowned, thinking hard. He'd never made rice… he'd never really made anything, come to think of it. "I guess… we could try to make rice."

Alan nodded with determination, following Spears as he walked into the small kitchen.

It consisted of a small, wood-heated stove, an icebox, a pantry, and a small sink. Several cabinets lined the walls and floor. A single small window let in light as Alan pulled out a lantern and lit it, giving them light to work by; shadows dancing across the walls.

Slowly they pulled out the small brown paper bag filled with rice, hoping that it wouldn't bite them as they took extreme precaution to set it gently on the countertop.

They opened the bag and stared inside at the brown pieces of food, unsure how to cook it.

"I think we need a pot." William tried to remember what his mother would do when she made rice.

"Okay." Alan turned around, opening the wooden cabinets in search of a pot. He quickly came up with a medium sized pot, holding it up to William's observation.

William nodded, listening to the clatter as the other reaper set the metal pot against the stove.

"Now what?"

William shrugged. "I'm not sure… I think we need water."

"Alright." Alan grabbed a pale from next to the door. "The pump's outside. I'll go get it." Alan walked out of the door, leaving William to his thoughts.

There was no way to contact either of his teachers, not that he'd necessarily want to even if he could. He had _no_ idea how rice was supposed to be made.

Alan came back into the apartment, water pail full as he carried it into the kitchen.

"Now what?" Alan set the pail on the floor.

"I'm not sure. I think we need to heat the water up… so we should put it in the pot and light the fire." William handled the issue with logic, hoping that the thought process would help him in this situation as it did in all others.

Alan poured half of the pail into the pot, watching the water splash around before settling. With the same precision he opened the door to the stove and lit the fire, watching it build with the logs before closing the door.

"What else do we do?" The brown haired boy looked up at William, being a few inches shorter than the medium-length coal color haired reaper.

"We can go sit down, we just need to let the water heat up and then we can figure out what to do next." William walked back toward the couch, sitting down to relax while Alan continued his reading.

It was nearly half of an hour later when they got up, ready to check on the water.

Calmly they made their way into the kitchen, carrying the lantern with them to check the pot.

Both looked inside and instantly were confused by what they saw.

The pot was empty.

"But… I don't understand. I put the water in the pot. I remember doing so." Alan stuck his hand in, waving it around as he hoped the water would appear some how.

William simply stared, not sure how to handle the problem.

"Maybe it disappeared because there was no rice in it." Alan shrugged, picking up the pale of water and pouring the rest into the empty pot. A large plumb of steam bellowed up from the pot with a sizzling noise as the cool water struck the burning hot metal.

William watched as Alan picked up the bag of rice, pouring half of it into the pot carefully.

The pair watched as the water gently boiled, slowly cooking the rice.

"I guess we just wait now." William shrugged, uneasy from the disappearing water but not entirely sure what else he could do.

The pair walked back into the living room, cautiously sitting down as they waited for dinner to cook.

Within a few minutes, the pair found themselves at ease again, relaxing happily in the warm light of the lantern. William watched Alan read for a few minutes before finally piping up a question.

"So, what's the book about?" He stared at the book but wasn't able to make out the title.

"Oh!" Alan looked up, glancing back down at the book before shutting it. "It's actually one of my old text books. I have to return it tomorrow. It's about diseases."

"Interesting." William tilted his head to look at it.

"Yeah, I was just reading about how much the influenza virus could affect a reaper. It's pretty cool. It affects us more than some humans, but it only lasts a day or so." Alan informed.

"Hm." William nodded.

Alan sniffled, wiping his nose before stopping to look up at Spears. "Do- do you smell something?"

William sniffed the air, the distinct lingering scent of smoke beginning to infiltrate the room.

Both boys realized at the same moment, jumping up and rushing to the kitchen.

The smoke was thick, causing both to struggle as they moved to open the window and wave the substance out.

Finally the smoke began to clear, Alan held the lantern up to the pot, groaning when he saw the charred substance inside.

William walked up, responding in kind as he saw the deep black substance.

"Want to just eat fruit?' Alan held up a small basket with apples, offering William one as he took a bite.

William sighed, resigning himself to the fruit and taking one before retreating to his room. It was too late to worry about anything anyways.

* * *

_In case you're wondering, this isn't necessarily a filler chapter. It's setting the stage for a later chapter. Doesn't mean it couldn't be funny. _


	6. Early Morning Accidents

**Chapter 6: Early Morning Accidents**

* * *

When William awoke, he automatically noticed that the sky was brighter than usual in the early morning. His internal clock obviously slightly off.

Wandering out of his room with a stretching groan, he walked into the living room, expecting to find Alan. There the boy sat, slumped over with his book still in hand. Having fallen asleep while reading.

Turning around in a tired daze, William looked at the clock. '7:49', it read, second hand ticking away indifferently.

_Oh, that's not too bad._ William stretched again, arms over his head as he walked slowly back to his room.

_Wait._ William stopped, standing in the threshold of his door. _What time was I supposed to meet Miss. Abery at the training center?_ His mind struggled to think back to the hectic day yesterday.

_"Be at the training center by 8, tomorrow morning. Get a good rest, Mr. Spears, because you'll certainly need it."_ Her voice rang in his head.

With a gasp, eyes opened wide as he ran back in front of the clock, staring at it in horror. His heart jump-started; pumping energy and adrenaline through his veins as he sped back to his room.

He panted, grabbing a pair of black pants and a collared, short-sleeve, white button up shirt. He threw them on in a hurry, not worrying about wrinkles as he pulled his socks and shoes on in a huff.

"Bye Alan, see you later!" William yelled, hoping that his farewell would wake the boy up at the same time.

He grabbed one of the two house keys and apartment keys off of the counter, shoving them into his pocket as he rushed out of the door.

With more speed than he'd ever thought he could muster, he sprinted, running down the sidewalk. His shoes slapped the walkway as he ran, getting onto the campus grounds and glancing at the clock as he continued to run.

'7:56' it mocked him. William ran faster, wide eyes pulsing as his glasses bounced on his nose. The training center was in his sights. He could see the building.

Reapers walked back and forth, all going to their jobs as the day began.

William rushed past them all, sending their hair tousling in the breeze of his wake.

Undertaker sighed, stepping out of the training center from walking Constance there, not surprised when the new student hadn't shown up. He had felt a small pang of happiness at the thought of the child failing on the first day, but regretted it slightly when he saw how disappointed Tansy was.

He held the door open, standing in front of the doorway as others walked around him to get to the open door.

A sudden weight was upon him, knocking into his back like a cannon ball that sent him flying back into the building.

William soared, air under his body as he relived at getting there just in time. He rounded the corner with a skid, continuing his run right into a man holding the door open, sending them both off of their feet and falling into the hallway.

Slowly both males groaned, picking themselves off of their respected places on the tile floor, Undertaker stretching his back from the jolting blow while William rubbed his head, having felt it strike the cool hallway lining during his fall.

With a tired calm, both men looked at each other- hoping that they were all right as well.

William was the first to recognize his blunder partner, the man's long gray hair and tailored black shirt triggering a solid frozenness of fear as he stood on his hands and knees; eyes wide and pupils fully dilated as he stiffened, gaping at the reaper.

Undertaker quickly followed suit, hatred and pure fury spreading across his face when he recognized Spears. Eyes locking on him and teeth locking together as he growled.

William wasted not a second pulling himself from his position on the floor, now hoping not only to get to his class on time, but also to get there without dying a horrible death as well.

"You!" Undertaker roared, standing up and charging after him. "Get back here!"

William yelped, feeling the man on his heels as he pushed himself to go faster, feeling his legs become unbalanced as they were pushed to go faster than they could handle.

"Get the door!" William screamed, voice high with fear. He could see his teacher behind a wall of thin glass, pacing as she waited for 8 o'clock to roll around.

Another student saw him, amazed that anyone could run that fast as they quickly opened the glass door, holding it open as two reapers rushed in not a second apart from each other.

"Help!" William continued to run, slipping on a mat and sliding away on his side as he watched Undertaker continue to charge him.

Constance looked up as the door opened and she saw two reapers going at full speed. She watched as one of them slipped, crying out as the other continued running.

"Help!" The word reached her ears just in time, recognizing William's anxious and normally quiet voice before realizing that Undertaker had tackled the sliding boy and was now standing up, the collar of the boy's shirt in his tight, unlocking fist.

"Hey! Hey!" Abery approached the pair, catching Undertaker's fist before it could connect to her student's face. "What's going on here?!"

Both men panted, watching her as she scowled at them like children. She looked from one to the other, taking note of each of them.

Undertaker; who looked closer to being ready to commit murder than usual, had his hands balled into fists, his hair mussed slightly in his anger.

William; who was staring at her with wide, pleading eyes that begged her to help him from his terrifying situation, his hands tightly locked on Undertaker's forearm while he tried to pull the man's unbreakable grip off of his shirt.

"You really do hate him." She muttered jokingly while eyeing Undertaker. "You usually wait a week before trying to kill my students."

Undertaker gritted his teeth together, too angry to care wither she was joking or not. It no longer mattered; he was seeing red.

"Let. Go." Undertaker seethed, flexing his fist under her grip.

Constance quickly changed her mood, her eyes flashing as she glared furiously up at the man.

"Back off." She tightened her grip on Undertaker's hand, fire flaring into her eyes as she bared her teeth threateningly.

They stood at a deadlock. Both spitting fire at each other through their eyes as William stood there panting. He wasn't entirely sure what to do.

"Fine." Undertaker let go of the boy, eliciting a yelp from him as he suddenly released his shirt, sending him back onto the floor where he quickly scrambled onto his feet and began walking away. He gagged as another hand caught him, his head twisting around to see that this time it had been his teacher.

"Thank you." Abery smiled, her mouth a fine line as her contact never broke his.

"I'll be going now." Undertaker nodded, signifying a bow as he began to settle down, stalking angrily out of the room.

William felt his calmness of escaping Undertaker vanish as Constance's eyes met his, burning into his pupils like hot coal.

"What _exactly_ just happened?" She growled, speaking as she pulled him across the room to a bench and tossed him onto it.

William hit the bench hard; not getting his footing right as he was dragged had left him open for falling. He quickly picked himself back up and sat down, ducking his head shamefully as the woman proceeded to lecture him.

"Mr. Spears, Undertaker isn't someone you want to mess with. When he gets mad, he's not a person with…" She chose her words carefully. "_Much_ control."

William slowly looked up at her, watching her carefully as she sighed, sitting on the bench next to him.

"He wouldn't have killed you. Don't worry about that. He might have beaten you senseless, but he would _never_ kill anyone unless he had to." Abery looked over at William, her eyes softening when she saw how terrified the experience had made him. "So what happened?"

"I… I woke up late." William slowly worked through the words in his head, sorting them out before speaking. "I was running here and I… I hit Undertaker." He looked into her eyes timidly, unsure of what to expect from her. "We fell in the hallway. He chased me in here."

"So you knocked him over?" Constance kept a straight face, acting indifferent as she forced herself to hide a smile at the idea of Undertaker being knocked over by a child.

William swallowed, nodding quietly.

"Okay. You won't get in trouble." The teacher nodded, letting him laugh in relief. "But the best way to get fear out of your body is to work it out. Give me 50 laps." She motioned towards the large track that sat on a higher floor, ringing the whole lower training floor in a small balcony.

William nodded, standing up and stifling a groan as he felt how tired his legs now were from the running he had already done.

Today was going to be a long day. His teacher was right about getting a good amount of sleep though. He would need the energy.

* * *

_This chapter was originally nonexistent, but after having the boy running because he was late, my brain started thinking about other stuff. Like how in movies, when people are running, someone always seems to be conveniently holding the door open when they run into a building. Then I was thinking about how funny it would be if he ran into the person holding the door. Finally I thought "Wouldn't Undertaker have walked Constance to work as he's such a gentleman? What if he was holding the door open?" And like that, my brain hatched it's evil plan. _

_Ta-da~_


	7. The Art of Balance

**Chapter 7: The Art of Balance**

* * *

"Alright, William, get over here." Abery's voice rang out about the sound of William's pulse, pounding hard after his grueling torture of running. His legs were like the jam he usually put on his bread in the morning. He had basically dragged himself the last few laps around the track.

William panted, silently begging her to put him out of his misery and just give him over to Undertaker. His teacher seemed to notice his pained features because she grabbed his shoulder, guiding him toward a bench to sit down and rest.

"Your first lesson is going to be a very important one. You'll rely on it and build up from it from here on out." Constance handed him a cup of water, nodding with satisfaction when the boy didn't gulp it down all at once.

_Maybe this kid isn't as stupid as I thought._ She sighed, sitting down next to him.

"The first thing you have to master is balance." The woman explained. "When done right, it's an art. After you master it, it'll be hard to be knocked off your feet."

William nodded, sipping on the water as he felt his heart rate begin to settle, eager to start learning.

"Let's begin." She walked into the center of a mat, waiting for her student to join her.

William timidly crept onto the mat, unsure of what she'd do to him.

"Come here!" The woman ordered, frustrated with how slow the boy was acting.

William walked quickly to her side, staring at her with trepidation as he prepared himself for the worst.

"Put your feet together and close your eyes." She ordered, straightening his stance as he did what she said without question.

"Pay attention to your body. Your balance relies on your gravity being directly above your point of contact with the ground. If you start to fall away from this, your body will tell you in time to correct it…"

"Wah!" William fell suddenly, glancing up at Constance sheepishly before climbing back to his feet.

"Before you can fall over." Abery smirked. "Again."

William closed his eyes and stood still, focusing on how his body shifted under him, alerting him when he started leaning too far in one direction.

"Alright," His teacher's voice made him open his eyes. "Now stand on one foot. It doesn't matter which; we'll be practicing on both."

William stood, lifting his left foot up as he struggled to stay balanced on the one leg. His body was moving a lot more, and no matter how much he tried to correct it, he'd just end up leaning another way. At last, he felt his body tipping over, opening his eyes and putting both feet on the mat to catch himself.

Abery frowned, simply staring at him, observing up and down before speaking; "Try the other foot."

William obeyed, panicking when he almost automatically felt himself falling over.

He opened his eyes, glancing at his teacher's angry face before trying again, receiving the same results seconds later.

He sighed, hearing the woman exhale forcefully before his stomach rumbled forcefully, demanding the food that it had been denied nearly two hours ago.

"Come over here, now." Constance Abery pulled William from his place on the mat, sitting him back down on the bench before looking down at him, watching as he lowered his head in submissiveness.

"Balance is something you learn for life. You don't just balance yourself physically; you also have to balance yourself out mentally. Without proper concentration; having an open, clear mind, and having eaten your breakfast before running over here in the morning- you won't be able to find your center easily." His teacher spoke, rummaging through a small bag before holding a small slice of fresh bread out to him, offering the snack.

William lifted his head, staring at her with a question. "I thought you said that you wouldn't bring lunch."

"I said I wouldn't bring _you_ lunch." Tansy raised an eyebrow, her face still indifferent as he took the bread.

"So then…" William bit into the soft food, savoring the taste, chewing before finishing his sentence. "Why are you giving me this?"

"As much as I'm annoyed with the fact that you've broken my rules on the first day, I know that first days are difficult and… some leniency is in order for the… commendable way you were able to get here." She chose her words carefully, speaking in such a way that it didn't necessarily seem like a compliment. William stared at her for a minute before seeing a small hint of trust and pride, however miniscule it was, flash through her eyes.

"Should we get started?" William stood, brushing the crumbs off of his shirt.

Constance nodded, assuming her stance on the mat once again, William quickly following her.

"Alright, stand on your right foot." She instructed, making sure his eyes were closed as he once again began the practice.

* * *

As the day wound down to a slow stop, the bright colors of the sun blinking through the tree leaves as they began to change into the vivid pinks and shimmery purples, William found himself easily standing on either leg for long periods of time.

Abery had then introduced him to the balance beam; a long piece of wood, a few inches wide, that extended several yards- a large, plushy piece of foam covering the floor below the mat for anyone who fell.

Fall he had. Several times. But near the end of the day, he was slowly getting the hang of it; creeping along the beam with his feet close together, his arms out in the air for support as he leaned and wavered and generally just tripped on the wood.

He turned his head at the same time as his teacher, seeing the door open but a person walk _in_ instead of _out_.

Undertaker appeared in the room, glaring at him from behind his glasses before focusing his attention on Tansy, greeting her with a smile that William knew he'd never get from him. It would have meant they'd be friends… and Undertaker would die before he ever let that happen.

"So the boy survived one day?" He spoke loud enough for William to hear.

Constance nodded, glaring with him at Spears before jerking her head in their direction, silently ordering him to come over.

William jumped from the wood and quickly made his way over to the pair.

"Is there anything you think you ought to say, Mr. Spears?" Abery spoke down to him, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at Undertaker before looking away, quietly shuffling his feet.

"I'm sorry for running into you this morning, sir." He looked up, meeting the man's eyes as he said it before dropping them back down to the floor.

Undertaker grunted roughly but ended up giving a curt nod, at least accepting his apology as a legit request for forgiveness.

"You're dismissed for the day." Constance bowed slightly, ready to turn her back on William before he could ask a question he'd been meaning to all day.

"Where's the grocery store?" William blurted out, embarrassed that he'd have to ask such a thing.

"The…" Undertaker even seemed confused by the question.

"I wanted to get some food for my roommate and myself." William wrung his hands, sweating under his teacher's intense glare.

"Did you go to the cafeteria last night?" Abery asked, fully turning around to face him as she asked the question.

William opened his mouth but closed it, silently shaking his head 'no'.

"What did you eat?" His teacher was now looking at him carefully.

"We… well, we tried to make rice…" William thought about the charred mess in the pot that they ended up throwing out. "But it… didn't really work out."

"So…?" Undertaker beat the woman to the punch, egging him on to finish his sentence.

"We ate a couple apples he had." William shrugged.

The teacher was silent for a moment before turning around again. "The store's down the road, it's under the name 'Charles' Bakery. It's the general store around here."

William nodded, bowing again in thanks before following them out the door, walking in the direction they pointed when they exited the building, glancing back once to see them walking away around a corner- Undertaker's arm back around her waist while she held his other hand in hers.

* * *

_So, since school has started back up for me last week, it might take awhile for the next chapter to come out. So don't freak out if I don't post for two weeks, it just means I'm writing as fast as I can and I'm trying to write a couple extra chapters for publishing occasionally while keeping up with school, Taekwondo, and my two rabbits. ^_^_


	8. Cooking Lessons

**Chapter 8: Cooking Lessons**

* * *

William woke up much earlier than the previous day, fully awake and relaxed. He had been able to get many groceries the night before and Alan and he had had a very good dinner of ham and bread with cheese.

He woke up just as the sky was peeking over the landscape and sat down to get a full breakfast before leaving the house.

The air was cool and he was grateful that he could now enjoy the breeze instead of creating it, walking slowly to the training center and taking in details of his neighborhood that he hadn't noticed before.

Birds' nests high in the branches, colors on buildings, even window displays had an intriguing look to them in the fresh daylight.

He walking into the training center, traveling down the hall and opening the lower level's doors, entering the room he had been the past day.

Both reapers he knew were there, chatting freely in the cool air of the room that was only possible because of the early time and the fact that no one else was there to start warming it with their body heat.

"Ma'am." William bowed as he approached the duo, bowing also to Undertaker when he faced him, accepting the gesture with a grunt and a glare.

"Well, you're here early!" Constance's face was indifferent like always but was mildly surprised looking at his change from yesterday.

"Yes, Ms. Abery." William stood in front of them, trying to ignore the male reaper's annoyed vibes- he still seeming to hate his existence.

"We're going to be doing a… different kind of lesson today, Mr. Spears." Abery rose, staring at him in an interest to see his reaction.

"What will we be doing?" William looked at her warily, not sure what to expect. His mind flickered to the worst; _what if she makes me fight Undertaker? Oh, God! I'm gonna die!_

"I'm going to teach you how to cook." She smiled slyly.

"Wh…what?" Spears was very confused.

"You can't cook rice. If you're going to survive for a year, you can't just live on bread and cheese." She chuckled at his reaction to knowing what he had eaten. "I go to the grocery store too. You were brought up in our conversation with Charles; he mentioned what you bought."

"Oh." William nodded, taking a heavy breath in, as he felt unapt to the task of learning cooking.

"We'll be going to my house for this lesson." Tansy began slowly walking toward the door with Undertaker, waiting until William caught the idea to follow before she sped her pace up a little.

"Your house?" William said the words and felt that they were foreign on his tongue. Going to his teachers' house? Her _home_?

_But… what if I misbehave? Will she lock me in the basement? Tell Undertaker to kill me? What will I be learning to cook? What does she eat? Children's souls? She seems mean enough to… _William automatically stopped thinking, afraid that she'd hear his thoughts as he pondered her lifestyle.

"See you later, dear." Undertaker spoke softly, making William look up with immense confusion as something in himself made him think that the man was talking to him for some reason.

He watched as Undertaker leaned over, never slowing his pace as he pecked the woman on the cheek and started across the field, never sparing William a glance of existence as he went to his office.

Constance continued walking, letting William follow her a few steps behind as they passed his apartment, continuing around the curve in the street and walking along the sidewalk.

William observed each street they crossed, continuing on the main road for several blocks before rounding another curve that turned to the left instead of the right like the one near his house. Staying on the main road the whole time.

Slowly the road dissolved into gray cobblestone instead of the bright red, fancy brick laid down near the campus. While the houses were still very large and intricate, painted bright colors as they showed off their size, they also boasted a quiet and simple elegance.

"That's Undertaker's house." Tansy pointed out to William, drawing his attention to a beautiful gray-blue house, white trimming decorating the door and window shutters. Spears was shocked that the house looked so inviting, unable to fathom how a man such as Undertaker was able to manage such a beautiful building.

"I might need to go there later to grab some ingredients." She continued to pass it, walking straight.

"Do you have a key?" William instantly shut his mouth with a gasp, watching as her step faltered slightly before continuing its step.

"I'm sorry!" William apologized, knowing that it must have come across rude to ask such a question. He didn't want to be locked in her basement.

From behind, his teacher seemed to chuckle at his apology before answering in a kind, relaxed voice that he hadn't heard before, "No, it's fine."

"I don't need a key. Undertaker doesn't lock his door." Tansy glanced back at William before turning back, seeing her house quickly coming up. "I don't think you'll go around telling everyone that… and I don't see you going in there comfortably." She explained her blatant confession of a fact few probably knew about the man with long gray hair.

He kept walking, following the teacher as they continued for another block before she suddenly turned into the walkway of a quaint yellow house, traversing the brick walk lined with turquoise and navy blue flowers before pulling a key out of her pocket.

"This is your house?" William looked around the neatly kept, green yard. Colorful bushes with pink, purple, and blue flowers lined the edge of her house, disappearing around the side as they hid the edge where the ground met the house. The delicate blue flowers lining the walkway moved in the breeze and captured cherry blossoms floating through the wind from a small cherry tree in the corner of the front yard.

It was so… beautiful! William couldn't believe his eyes. A small edge met the walkway and lead up a trio of steps to a white porch that expanded across the front of the house. A small table and three chairs sat in the end section of the building, greeting company with the simple gesture of comfort. A neat, hand carved railing blocked the edge of the porch from the fall into the yard, matching the porch in bright white that complimented the yellow pastel of the rest of the house.

"Come on, we don't have any time to waste." Constance entered the house, holding the door open slightly for William who, after getting over how her house looked, quickly followed suit in entering the abode.

The dim light of the room he walked into made him blink, letting his eyes adjust as Abery opened the drawn curtains and let sunlight flood into the house.

William looked around, figuring that he was in the living room. A large fireplace sat to the right, the chimney unique as it was built to stand and come out of the middle of the house. On the mantel was a framed picture, obviously drawn by a hired artist, of Undertaker and his teacher, smiling happily while posing for the piece. The rest of the ledge sat empty, dusted and clean but bare.

There were two doorways to this large room, the one he just entered from, which was a hallway that lead deeper into the right side of the house, hidden in shadows, and one in which Constance had just disappeared to.

The living room was brightly lit, two large windows lining the left side of the wall, a brown couch sitting away from the wall facing the fireplace.

A small wooden table sat in front of the couch and complimented the bookshelf against the far wall that contained the same wood.

"Come on, Mr. Spears, this way." Tansy called from the next room.

William hurried across the carpeted floor, stepping into the kitchen and glancing at his teacher to realize that her feet were now flat on the floor, stocking socks having been reveled after she took off her shoes.

_Was I supposed to take off my shoes? _William thought, shifting his weight uneasily as the woman looked him over.

"You may want to take those off." She looked pointedly at his shoes. "But you don't have to."

William nodded, awkwardly walking back through her living room and removing his shoes in the hallway and placing them neatly next to hers before once again traversing the house.

"Alright, so," Constance crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him in a way that made him feel like he was in trouble. "What do you know how to cook?"

William stared at her like she had a plant growing out of her head, never having been asked anything like this before.

"Do you know how to boil water?" She fished for anything that she wouldn't have to waste time teaching.

"Boil?" William hadn't heard of such a thing.

"Can you make dough or roll it?"

"…What?" William was completely lost.

"Okay, alright, we can do this." Abery sighed, pulling a pot out of a cupboard and setting it on the stove.

"Do you need me to go get water?" William looked for the pail to fetch the liquid.

"No need." Constance pulled a bucket of water out from a dark pantry, sloshing some of it into the pot.

William watched with interest as she lit the fire for the stove and waved him over.

"When the water gets hot, it'll start to bubble in the pot. That is what boiling is." She pointed in the pot.

"How long does it take?" William watched the water, noticing that very small bubbles were starting to form at the bottom of the metal and float to the top.

"It depends, but usually between five and fifteen minutes it'll be at a good boil." The teacher answered, pulling in ingredients from all around her.

"What are we going to learn today?" William watched as she pulled a measuring cup from a drawer and set it on the counter

"I'll teach you how to make rice." She answered, pulling a brown bag from another pantry and setting it down near William, letting it sit on the island in the middle of the kitchen area next to the cup.

"Now, I want you to look in the pot and tell me what you see." Tansy turned around, watching him carefully as he looked into the container.

"The water's is boiling." William answered, watching the rolling bumps form in the pot as bouts of steam made his face heat up.

"Good." She smirked. "Dump it into the pail."

"What?" William looked at her with surprise.

"Pick up the pot by the handles and pour the water into the pail." She nodded toward the pot and then to the pail, which she had placed pointedly close to him.

Without anymore questioning, he carefully picked the pot up and dumped the water, careful not to get any on the tile before he straightened up and replaced the pot on the stove.

"Now take this cup and measure out four cups of water." She pointed to the small metal tin, now leaning against the countertop while watching her student. "This is one cup." She chuckled inwardly when William wasn't sure how much to measure.

William carefully measured out the water, pouring it gently into the pot before devoting his attention back to his mentor.

"Now measure out two cups of rice." She nodded at the bag.

William did as she asked.

"Rice is always made in a one-to-two ratio. Two cups of water to one cup of rice." His mentor explained, poking the fire in the stove to give less heat before covering the pot with a lid. "The heat should be low and you need to cover the pot to cook the rice correctly."

William nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Now we just need to wait." His mentor walked past him, traveling to the seating room to sit on the couch.

William followed and almost touched the sofa before he bolted upright, staring at the woman nervously.

The woman in question watched him with confusion and amusement, wondering what exactly had made him act in such a manner.

"May I sit down?" William asked politely, humbling himself as he downcast his eyes.

Constance was floored to say in the least. She wasn't expecting the boy to have perfect manners, but here he was, asking her if he could even sit down on her furniture.

Still shocked by William's mannerisms, she nodded.

They sat in silence, nether one entirely sure what to say to the other, as they waited for the rice to cook.

* * *

"Tansy?" Undertaker let himself in, moving to take off his boots before noticing another pair of shoes in his place. He quickly moved through the house, surprised to find William T. Spears sitting at the dinner table with Constance, the pair chatting over empty plates.

"Undertaker," The woman he'd known for hundreds of years greeting him into the house, "We were just discussing different ways to prepare rice." She had an indifferent expression but her eyes shined with a genuinely happy smile (something Undertaker hadn't seen in decades).

"Great." Undertaker rolled his eyes, sneering at the subject.

"Well, I… I- I better get going." William stood up, placing his plate in the sink before bowing to Abery.

"You have the day off tomorrow, but you're invited to come here for dinner tomorrow night." Undertaker heard these words said much to his annoyance, growling at the boy as he bowed again to his master before carefully inching around Undertaker and leaning away from the man as he tried to avoid the angry man's death glare.

William slipped on his shoes as quickly and quietly as possible before darting out the door, breathing in the cool night air in relief of getting out of there while Undertaker stared him down.

He set off for home, unsure of how long it would take. Within a few blocks he started to hear sounds of the campus again; the giggling of couples out for a stroll, the laughter of reapers in training that were coming from a gathering with friends, and the hoots and hollers of reapers who had just come from the pub echoed around him.

"Hey, guys! Look who it is!" William recognized one voice he never wanted to hear and hurried his pace, hoping that they wouldn't try to catch him.

"Come on!" He called to his gang. "Hey Willy, wait up!" Spears could hear Adam jogging up to him from behind.

"How are ya?" A hard slap on the back startled the reaper in training as he looked timidly toward his tormentor.

"Adam." William addressed the boys presence but quickly hastened his pace.

"Come on! That's no way to greet your buddy, is it guys?" Adam smiled charmingly, obviously pleased by the other boy's reaction when he heard the four other reapers echo agreement from behind.

"Think he needs to be taught a lesson?" Adam grabbed the back of William's suit, bunching the fabric in his fist, as he was encouraged from the gang's agreements once again.

Knowing what was coming, William suddenly slipped out of his suit jacket with depressingly practiced ease, running off as quickly as he could down the main road. He could hear Adam's jeers behind him, chasing him up the road.

"We'll see ya later, Willy! And next time, you're not gonna get away!" The group's laughter haunted him as he charged into the door of the apartment building, hitting it hard as he jammed his key in and turned the lock. He shoved himself through the door, pulling the key out as he slammed the door behind him.

His apartment door opened suddenly, Alan's worried face greeting him.

"What happened?" Alan stepped aside to let Spears in.

William shook off the question, opting instead to close himself in his room and lay down, hoping that he could be well rested for the dinner party the next day.

* * *

_No matter how insignificant any of these chapters seem, every one of them has something in them that forwards the plot and/or character development... _


	9. Dinner Party

Chapter 9: The Dinner Party

* * *

William relaxed the next day. Sleeping in later than normal before leaving his room. Alan was gone; training with his mentor until later that afternoon. He wasn't sure what to do with the apartment to him.

Finally he decided to eat breakfast before settling down to clean the apartment.

He swept the floors and scrubbed leftover dirt from the tiles in the kitchen, he cleaned the soot and coal from the stove, filling it with new logs, eventually he left the kitchen and dusted the sitting room, cleaning it to make it more inviting.

It was several hours later that he finally sat down again, allowing his rolled up sleeves to fall to his wrists. Glancing at the clock, he could see that it was almost 6 o' clock. He wasn't sure when his teacher would be eating dinner. She hadn't given him a time to be at the house. He hoped that he wouldn't be late… or too early.

Writing a quick note explaining where he had disappeared to, William donned a nice shirt and grabbed another suit jacket before heading out the door.

William walked up Main Street and glanced nervously at Undertaker's house before hurrying past. He swore he saw the curtains of the window move as he walked, the old man's fiery glare piercing him as the house emitted his foreboding aura.

Spears knocked on his teacher's door, hopes of her being home being confirmed as the smells of a well-cooked dinner wafted onto the porch.

The door swung open, Constance Abery holding it as she invited her student inside.

"Good evening, Mr. Spears." She walked back through the house.

"Good evening, ma'am." William answered while stripping off his shoes and setting them on the mat by the door like yesterday.

"Dinner'll be ready in ten minutes." Constance called from the kitchen, obviously busy.

William silently nodded, knowing that he should probably go into the kitchen. The dark hallway with secretive doors enticed him to slowly wander down the passage, the warm light from the living room fading quickly against the cold darkness.

There were only two doors; one was toward the center of the hall while the other stood near the end. The last doorway was cracked open, pale light shining into the hall and showing that the room was more than likely a bedroom.

Glancing back toward the living room to make sure his teacher wasn't watching him, he grabbed the knob of the closed door, turning the bronze handle under his hand slowly before pulling. The door opened with a slow _creak_, making William grow shaky with anticipation.

The door opened so that he could see inside, a tall, steep staircase lead to the second floor of the house, though by the dust covering each step undisturbed, he could tell that nobody had gone up there in a long time.

Attached to the staircase wall was a single photo frame. Dust covered the fixed glass so that he couldn't make out the portrait.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" William jumped and let out a loud yelp as he threw himself backwards. Without knowing it, he had been inching toward walking onto the first step, and in that time his teacher had come out of the kitchen and had seen him.

His back hit the opposite wall and made the glass in the window shutter.

Constance glared at him through her glasses before glancing toward the stairs. Without hesitation she shut the door firmly, closing it off once again to prying eyes.

"I- I…" William eyed her with trepidation, unsure of what she'd do to him.

"Dinner's ready." She turned stiffly back toward the living room, towing Spears behind her with her words.

William walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see bread and cheese on the counter. Homemade soup in a pot sat simmering on the stove, also ready to eat.

"Come on then!" Constance glared at him with annoyance while he sat down at the table. Without a word, the teacher set the loaf of bread and block of cheese on the table, set two bowls down on the wood and portioned out soup into them.

The teacher began to eat at the same time William began to fold his hands. Surprised by her actions, he couldn't help but ask the reason behind them.

"Excuse me, but don't you pray?" Spears shuttered at her icy glare.

"No." It was the teacher's turn to shift her gaze down, shocking William in the act. "I lost my faith a long time ago."

"H- how?" William couldn't understand how a grim reaper, who worked for none other than God, could lose his or her faith.

"It died." For the first time, William could see why his teacher always had a mask of indifference on; without it, the hollowness he could now see in her eyes would always be prevalent.

William nodded silently, not understanding but instead accepting her explanation before grabbing a slice of fresh bread.

* * *

"This was an interesting dinner, Mr. Spears." Constance smiled ever so slightly at the boy.

William smiled back, nodding in agreement. They hadn't talked about much, other than his studies as a student, but after dinner he had tried to explain chess to her. It didn't work. She had gotten so confused by the game that she had left him questioning if he was right about it. At one point, to escape from losing the round once again, Abery had even switched the board around… she had still lost.

Somehow it seemed that the night had brought them a little bit more into a mutual respect for one another.

William was also happy because Undertaker hadn't come by during that evening, Constance saying that he had needed to work later than usual that night.

"Class will be at the training center at eight tomorrow morning. Try not to be late… or hurt Undertaker." His teacher informed, although her tone was joking as William walked onto the porch.

"_Hurt_ Undertaker?" William laughed. "I don't think that's possible."

Constance nodded in agreement before shutting the door, offering no words of goodbye before sending him home.

William walked happily down the walkway, smiling to himself while breathing the cold air that had settled over the town like a fog. It was probably close to ten or eleven at night by this time, the day almost ready to change into tomorrow.

Spears looked up to watch Undertaker's house nervously as he approached it, being able to make it out a little less than a block away.

"Hiya, Willy!" Adam Habell's voice rang out behind him.

William glanced around at the bully before breaking into a run, not wanting to be caught again.

"Oh, ah-ah-ah!" William felt a pair of arms lock around him as he ran straight into the rest of the gang, which had positioned themselves in front of the reaper. "Can't have you getting away this time, can we?"

Adam flashed a charming and sly smile before raising his fist.

William's eyes opened wide, not wanting to deal with what was going to happen.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_To anyone wondering if Grell will be in this story, he may be referenced, or have a cameo appearance, but he won't be in the story until the end in which William must work with him in testing._


	10. The Only Means of Escape

**Chapter 10: The Only Means of Escape**

* * *

William felt the startling blow of air being forced from his lungs as Adam's fist connected with his stomach.

The young reaper leaned forward with the blow but felt his body being restrained by one of the stronger gang members holding him around the chest, his arms pinned roughly to his sides.

"Come on, Willy, defend yourself!" Another one of the group jeered as a fist connected with Spears' jaw.

"Yeah, lets see how well he fights back!" Adam ordered his release, dropping into a fighting position while William gathered his bearings from the dizzying blow he'd just received. He couldn't feel the lower part of his face; it was numb as a slow pain began to build in his head.

"Come on!" A boy shoved him forward from behind, William crying out as he fell into Adam's charging knee.

The group laughed at the bloody-nosed reaper as he tried to stumble backwards, tripping over another's foot and landing on the curb between the sidewalk and street.

_I can't get home. It's too far away…_ his thoughts were interrupted by a rock solid kick to his back, sending him tumbling into the street.

He desperately tried to think of another way to escape. He wasn't going to return to his teacher's house; she was already obviously tired by the end of dinner- she would surely be asleep by now.

_"Undertaker's working late tonight, so he won't be joining us at all," Constance noticed William's glances toward the front door. "He'll probably just sleep at the office." She added as an afterthought to herself._ William remembered the conversation from earlier. Turning his head slowly, he could see Undertaker's house although the group surrounding him once again quickly closed off the view.

Someone kicked the back of his head, giving him whiplash as his chin hit his chest.

A fury of solid blows were pounding him further into the street, stomping on his ribs and bruising his stomach as he tried to block them out to think clearly.

It was something that Constance had told him before; something to do with the old man's house. What was it though?

A hearty kick to the tender area between his legs left him gasping for breath as he remembered what he was told.

_"Do you need a key?" William asked…_ _"I don't need a key. Undertaker doesn't lock his door." Abery replied._

If he could just get to Undertaker's house, the man wasn't home- he could get away from the bullies alive.

"Come on, pick him up!" Adam Habell ordered the group. William felt his body suddenly being jerked from his spot on the cool brick, being set upright by the other boys and held in place again.

"Can't you fight at all?" One of the group members mocked.

Adam grabbed the front of Spears' shirt, smirking in anticipation of punching the miserable nerd again.

William unfocused from Adam's face, instead peering over his shoulder at his goal; Undertaker's house was less than a block away, now beckoning for him to enter.

Adam's fist drove forward as William leaned to the side, wavering slightly as he felt the boy holding him let go in shock, having felt Adam's punch for the first time.

Not wasting a second amid the confusion, William shoved Adam aside, and made a break for the house.

"Get him!" William ran as fast as he could, although in his beaten and abused state, he couldn't run nearly as fast as the boys.

His body hit the ground hard, teeth biting the brick as he was tackled from behind.

"Ah!" William struck out blindly, feeling the boy let go of him as his fist connected to the face of his attacker.

He stumbled as he got up again, running faster now. Feeling the boys on his heels, he didn't hesitate to throw himself through the entrance of Undertaker's house.

Spinning around, he slammed the door shut before collapsing against it, hoping that his dead weight would hold the door shut.

It didn't.

His body was forced along with the door to the side, the door hitting his head and body as the gang of five stormed into the dark house.

The swift kicks and merciless punches continued, harder than ever as the group was fueled by anger.

_There's no way to get out now. _William realized he was trapped in the corner, curling into a tight ball as he wondered how long it would take before he died… or if he wouldn't die and Undertaker would come home and find him. He would still die; only it would then be Undertaker that would finish the job.

A single kick found it's way between William's arms that he'd put up to protect his face and head, plowing deep into his right eye as he screamed, hoping it would end soon.

"Hey! What in God's name are you doing in here?! Get the hell out!" A deep, grumbling voice screamed from beyond the group.

The group quickly disbursed, flying out the door and down the street.

"You too!" The voice came again, ringing in Williams ears as blackness pulsed in and out of what was left of his vision, his right eye swollen shut and now seeing slashes of white light.

"Hey!" The voice growled, kicking him with the toe of his shoe.

William let out a feeble groan in response, grateful to whomever had saved him but not even having enough energy to pull his arms off from around his head.

"Did ya hear me, brat?" His protector growled, wrapping a thin hand around his wrist and pulling it harshly away to revel Will's face.

Through the darkness invading his mind, William could see a lantern being held up to his face, the man behind the lantern showing a considerable amount of worry as his mouth moved. William couldn't hear the words, only muffled noises. The gray hair framing the man's face struck him like another slap to the face.

_Undertaker! OH NO!_ William kicked the ground, pulling his arm away from the reaper as he tried to back away from him in a panic.

Undertaker felt a blow of shock rush through him when he pulled the boy's arm away from his face. It was William.

Sure, he hated the kid, but for something like this to happen…

"William!" Undertaker shook the boy's wrist, hoping to wake him from his daze. "William, damn it! Come on." The boy's eyes became more alert before surprise filled the one eye he could see out of.

Not expecting the strength of the boy's fight, Undertaker found his hand empty and the arm he had been holding tucked back into the young reaper's chest. The boy kicked away from him, backing up against the wall as he continued to stare at him in absolute horror.

No matter how cruel he could be; Undertaker was surprised he had left such a dangerous imprint on the boy, and the look of his eyes shocked the elder with their intensity.

He was trying to say something, although his jaw didn't seem to want to move, muffled noises coming out as he talked and whimpered.

"I'm sorry! I- I didn't think you were home and… and I…" William tried to plead, hoping that Undertaker wouldn't kill him for trespassing into his house. He couldn't hear himself, but the tightness in his jaw made him question if it had broken or not.

The black sheet that had been fading in and out of his vision suddenly covered him, sending him into a dazed nothingness where he couldn't think or dream.

Undertaker watched the boy as his head rested on the floor, obviously no longer awake.

The older reaper sighed in frustration before picking the body up as gently as he could and carried it into a spare bedroom. He laid William on the bed and covered the shivering form with a blanket before quickly leaving; knowing that he'd need Constance's help to make sure the boy was all right.

* * *

_It literally killed me a little bit on the inside, writing this chapter, but I promise that it was needed for the plot! Don't hate me!_


	11. Quite the Interesting Time

**Chapter 11: Quite the Interesting Time**

* * *

Constance could hear someone pounding furiously at her door as she slowly woke up. Sighing in frustration, she swung her legs over the bed's edge and stood up, her nightgown tickling her ankles as she proceeded to walk the hallway toward the front door.

"What?" She growled, jerking the door open, rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand before placing her glasses on.

"Constance," Undertaker's voice woke her up a little bit more. "It's Spears, you should probably come with me."

Constance groaned, rolling her eyes with an irritated sigh. Without a word, she changed as quickly as possible into her normal cloths and slipped on a pair of flat shoes before following Undertaker out into the street.

"He's at my house, he was attacked." Undertaker informed before pausing in his fast walk back to his house.

"What?" Constance watched Undertaker with annoyance as he walked into the road; she noticed what he was after; a brownish black, polished leather shoe laid on its side in the middle of the road.

"Undertaker, who attacked him?" Constance was completely indifferent, rattling Undertaker with her uncaring tone.

"A group of reapers. They were his age but…" Undertaker trailed off.

Constance followed him, matching his speed as they approached the house and went inside. Without another word between them, Undertaker led the female reaper to the spare bedroom and opened the door.

* * *

William was bruised everywhere. His nose was cracked deeply at the bridge and dried blood covered it. Black and purple skin blotched much of his skin, unwilling to revel if he had been bleeding anywhere else.

As Abery approached the bed, she could easily see that the eyelid covering the student's right eye was swollen, closing off the sight in it completely.

"Lets wait for him to wake up. We'll see how he acts and decide what to do then." Constance sighed. "Until then, bring me a wet washcloth."

"Why?" Undertaker looked at the boy.

"For one thing, he's covered in blood." Constance snapped, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. "And he's going to get a fever."

Undertaker nodded before disappearing from the room.

Waiting for her companion to bring the washrag, Abery instead decided to focus on watching William's breathing, watching for any hiccups or unrhythmical patterns that could foreshadow internal problems.

Thankfully, none could be seen in the time it took for the tall, male reaper to come back.

"Here." Undertaker held the folded washcloth out to her to take before walking to the nightstand and placing a second one on the table.

Constance stared at him questioningly before he answered.

"Can't have him laying with a washrag filled with blood on his forehead, can we?" Undertaker chuckled at the thought of the pristine and tidy boy waking up to find such a thing.

Constance chuckled in agreement before moving toward the bed to try to take care of her student.

* * *

"So what's the damage?" Undertaker spoke up as the woman entered the main bedroom.

"He's gonna be pretty sore for awhile, but he'll be fine." Constance changed into a nightgown she kept at the house, pulling her hair of the collar before walking toward one of the two beds in the room.

Undertaker stood from his, walking the short space in between them to tuck her in before climbing back into his own bed.

"Good night, dear." Constance turned her back to him, putting her hands on her pillow.

"See you tomorrow, love." Undertaker responded, blowing the lantern light out and sending the room into pitch-blackness.

* * *

William wasn't completely sure what to think. How did he get home last night? Why didn't he change into his pajamas? Why was his bed more comfortable than normal?

The boy sat up slowly and held on to the bed for support as he groaned; realizing that he couldn't easily rub is face to get the sleep away. He squinted, able to open only his left eye, peering around his room. Something was off about it.

The smell of breakfast hit him then, he breathing it in more than smelling it, as his nose was broken.

_But Alan said he couldn't cook…? _William sighed a groan, not having enough energy to try to stand up.

He could hear muffled voices through the wall accompanied with the sound of meat frying in a pan.

The door opened without a knock, and looking over expecting Alan, William was very shocked to see Undertaker walking into the room, his braid and a few loose bangs the only things escaping the long pony tail he had tied his silver hair into.

"Yeah, he's awake." Undertaker called over his shoulder to persons unknown, never taking his watchful, wolf-like eyes off of William.

Slowly but surely the previous night was coming back to William T. Spears. He'd passed out in Undertaker's house… and Undertaker didn't kill him? Realizing suddenly that he wasn't in his room and that the building he was in wasn't even his apartment, his brain connected the dots but refused to believe it.

"Am… am I in your house?" William could speak clearly but felt an aching pain flair in his jaw when he tried to talk.

Undertaker frowned, scowling at the boy while nodding, obviously not enjoying the confession. "Now come on, breakfast is ready." He turned around, hair fanning around before following him wispily out of the bedroom.

Groaning once more, William lowered himself from the mattress and felt his socks touch the floor. His stomach hurt, and his back hurt even more… this was going to be a great day! He'd had the crap beat out of him last night and now he'd need to go train with Abery. She probably didn't even know about his experience.

William was once again surprised when he exited the bedroom and traveled into the kitchen, another reaper standing at the stove cooking while Undertaker leaned against the counter, chatting with the person.

"Morning, Mr. Spears." Constance called to him, turning around with a pan of scrambled eggs. She walked next to him, portioning the food before taking a moment to look at him and glance over his bruises.

"Good morning." William answered.

"Well, I wouldn't consider it good, considering the circumstances, but yes, it is indeed morning." The woman placed the pan back on the stove and walked back with another pan with three good-sized chunks of ham.

"Hope you're hungry." She nodded in thanks to Undertaker when his came from behind her, placing the bread on the table.

William's stomach growled in response but the bruises there made him feel sick. But he compliantly sat in front of his plate, the smells of warm food making him hungrier.

"Alright." Constance sat, hands folded in her lap politely as she seemed to be waiting for something.

William looked at her questioningly.

"You can pray, William." She spoke softly, nodding at Undertaker to bring to the boy's attention that the elder was praying silently.

The day was certainly full of surprises- he hadn't expected that Undertaker was more religious than his teacher.

He said a quick prayer and held his fork in his hand, unsure if he'd be able to hold down the food.

"Eat what you feel comfortable eating." Abery looked at him seriously as she took a bite of her eggs.

"If you force yourself, you're gonna make yourself throw up." Undertaker chimed in.

William looked at the pair like they belonged in an asylum, having no idea why they suddenly cared about him… well, caring was the wrong word- but they were paying him more attention than normal.

"We know what being hurt feels like." Constance explained when she saw his expression.

"We've certainly had a couple run-ins, haven't we?" Undertaker chuckled, flashing a smile that seemed to hold more evil and darkness than friendship and safety.

Constance glared at the man pointedly, obviously knowing that his words hinted at something William didn't know about.

"We won't be having class for a few days." His teacher informed. "We'll be working on simple balance for the next week as you're not in any shape to be falling off the balance beam." Abery wiped her mouth with a napkin, shoving her plate over to Undertaker before standing up and leaving the room.

_What was that about?_ William watched her leave, frowning as she did so. When he turned back to look at Undertaker through his swollen eye, the man's eyes were flashing with anger, although William was sure that (for once) the anger wasn't directed towards him.

Without another word, Undertaker also left the table, walking in the direction his teacher had just walked in.

* * *

"Why'd you storm off like that?" Undertaker walked into his bedroom, knowing that Tansy would be in there.

"I don't care if William doesn't know what you're talking about, but I have half a mind to slap you for that comment." Constance growled, lips curling up to revel her sharp teeth.

Undertaker could tell that she wasn't in a good mood. The stress of having a student hurt was combating for position over the anxiety of her strict training schedule being put off by several days.

_Maybe I hit too far below the belt for this occasion… _Undertaker thought to himself, not willing to openly admit he was wrong. He was a _very _stubborn man after all.

"Oh, yeah," Undertaker sneered at her threat. "What's the other half telling you to do?"

Constance glared at him, not ready to put up with his attitude so early in the morning. Without a word, she crossed the floor in less than a second, smacking her hand hard across his cheek.

"My other half agrees that it was a good idea."

Undertaker's eyes flashed, obviously angered deeply by her actions against him.

"You have no right to mention that night. That's my memory to keep and I don't want a nosy student poking his nose into somewhere where he doesn't belong!" Constance kept her voice hushed but the strain in her voice told that she'd be yelling if she weren't worried about Spears overhearing.

Undertaker stared at her for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "I apologize."

Tansy nodded back, although still heated from the argument.

"But, if you get any more secrets to juggle rather than the ones you already have, you may find yourself dropping one for Spears to find." The male reaper warned, walking out of the door in a huff.

Constance Abery sat on the bed closest to her, sighing as she tried to process the conversation and edit her training plans at the same time, the extra expansion of air in her body brushing the roughly healed skin on her back deeply against her shirt.

* * *

_Yeah, a whole lot of page breaks in this chapter. Hope it didn't bother you too much. Drop a text and tell me what you think- I enjoy the feedback as much as you enjoy the story... maybe even more! Thanks for reading! _

_Until next time!~_


	12. The End of Lesson One

**Chapter 12: The End of Lesson One**

* * *

It took nearly two weeks before William was finished with learning the basics of how to balance.

The fight… or rather the attack, had left him with a serious case of vertigo- causing him to be unable to easily do anything involving being on his feet for nearly a full week.

Constance Abery had extended their training hours to be longer and more rigorous, teaching William new techniques for moving.

Once he was able to easily balance once again, he had been placed on the balance beam- forced to climb up the ladder every time he fell off the wooden board.

Slowly but surely, his teacher had increased the difficulty; first teaching him how to run and jump along the beam before educating him on the careful technique of walking on his hands across the training device and even doing a summersault atop it.

William felt a burst of pride the first time he had successfully walked on his hands the full length, but feeling once again overwhelmed when he watched his teacher climb up onto the beam.

Without hesitation, she ran a few quick steps before flipping forward, landing with perfect posture a few feet in front of where she had been.

Willing to show off, she bent her knees and sprung into a back flip, landing where she had first started.

Spears could feel his jaw hanging open, eyes wide at what he'd just witnessed.

"Top _that_." Constance gave him a very rare, sly and cocky smile that he'd seen very few times. She had quickly descended from the board and ordered William back up, willing to teach him the trick.

It had taken a full day of very stressful training, but at the end of the day, he was able to shyly puff out his chest in pride for a second when Undertaker walked into the room, and upon seeing his flipping technique- gave him a raised eyebrow and slightly-amused nod of approval.

It was the next day that William was shown something he hadn't noticed before; tied across the second floor track, from one long end to the other, ran a thin and very stable tightrope.

"What are you waiting for? You wanting me to carry you or something?" Constance had removed the balance beam and had placed out more landing pads beneath the wire, hands crossed over her chest as she waited for the student to clamor up to the second floor.

William looked over the ledge, fear eating away at his stomach looking at the long drop to the pads below.

"What are you waiting for?" Abery called up, growing annoyed that the boy wasn't following orders.

"I… I'm scared I'll fall." William cried back, looking over the wire with trepidation.

"If you don't want to fall, than don't fall. You need to have confidence that you can do it." The teacher sighed.

William swallowed hard, forcing his fear away as he set his foot on the wire. _I can do it._ William took a step, hands out to his sides as he tried to balance. _I can do this._ Another step. And one more.

_I can-_ William glanced down, planning on focusing on his feet but instead looking to the floor below.

Constance watched with a heavy exhale as William tumbled off the wire, landing on his back as he stared up at the ceiling in shock.

"Come one, get up Mr. Spears. Lying around isn't going to help you." Abery walked to the staircase that led up to the next floor.

William followed a safe distance behind her, scared that she's spin around and spout fire at him at any second for messing up the way he did.

"This time, I want you to focus on me. Don't look at your feet- _never_ look at your feet. Watch me and walk across with me." William felt very surprised when he saw his teacher get on the wire backwards and begin walking slowly toward the other side.

"Come one, Mr. Spears." Abery called, arms still crossed over her chest.

William nodded, carefully following the teacher onto the wire.

"Don't look down. Stay focused Spears." Constance repeated, watching her student's eyes for any wavering of contact.

Despite many instincts to watch his feet, he studied his teacher's green eyes- they were just like any other reapers but the sharp sheen covering them was dramatically like Undertakers, wolf-like and cold.

"And… there… we… go." Abery watched William look around in shock, the boy obviously confused as he found himself on solid ground again.

_He's far too easy to read… maybe we should have a lesson on hiding emotions. _Constance thought, studying the student's facial expressions. _No. It's not something that can be taught._

"Now do it yourself." Constance nodded toward the way they'd just came from.

William slowly turned around, forced again to try it alone.

"You just did it." Abery pointed out. "You can do it, just focus on the goal- not where you're at in the journey."

William turned his head slightly, wanting to look at her after that quote but deciding against it.

With a deep breath, he started across the rope, shocked when he once again found himself standing on the other side of the room.

William carefully turned around, walking back toward his teacher.

_Should I? _William hesitated in his movement across the long wire. His mind quickly answered him. _It wouldn't hurt to try._

Remembering everything he had been taught on the balance beam, he twisted his body forward in the air, flipping and landing on the rope again, smiling- looking up to see the woman's shocked expression.

"Whoa!" The smile was gone in less than a second, mirroring his teachers as the rope swung to the side, tossing him onto the padding below.

Shamefully, the boy looked back up at his teacher, wishing to apologize for his blunder.

_Okay, it might hurt your pride… and honor… _his mind corrected it.

"What are you doing down there? Get up here and do that again." Constance shouted, waving her hand upwards.

William smiled, running up the stairs and meeting his teacher at the edge of the rope.

"That was… interesting." William could tell that she was trying to hand him a compliment… _sort of_- he was _sort of_ sure it was supposed to be a compliment. He nodded in gratitude before approaching the tightrope again.

"You landed leaning to the right, when you flip you need to keep your gravity perfectly in line with the rope or it'll throw you off. Try to flip and stay focused on the end at the same time. When you land, bend your knees slightly to keep from transferring the energy to the rope." Constance advised.

William nodded, walking out and attempting the flip again.

He fell.

And he fell again.

And again.

And again.

William sighed with frustration; he was still sore from Adam beating him up- he didn't like falling all that much either.

"Do it again, and stop getting angry; it's going to take awhile to do." Abery scolded lightly, watching William walk back onto the tightrope.

William focused, tightening his body in preparation of jumping.

He flipped, surprised when he didn't feel himself falling again.

Slowly he started to walk, getting to the other side for the first time in a long time.

A slow clap started from behind and under him.

William turned around and looked down to the first floor, noticing Undertaker staring up at him.

"Well, don't you feel _special_." Undertaker's spite filled his voice, scorching William with his words.

"Little Spears can do a little flip on the wire." Undertaker jumped up, shocking William when he landed easily on the second floor without any help.

"How…?" William looked at the male reaper, trying to figure out how the man had done that.

"It's something all reapers can do… but you need to learn how." Undertaker surprised him by answering with a half-decent answer, William expecting him to just scoff and walk away.

"She'll teach you eventually." The elder's gray hair waved as he jerked his head toward Constance.

"Hey, Undertaker," Constance called to the man from across the room. "I think he's ready to move on."

"Oh, really?" Undertaker flashed a wicked smile. Something was up. William knew it.

"William, walk across the tightrope again, and whatever you do, don't fall off." Constance ticked her head back, motioning for the boy to come.

William T. Spears felt nervous as he started across, and within five feet, he realized what was wrong.

From behind him, Undertaker giggled like a devious schoolboy, bending down to grab the rope and began moving it back and forth, causing William's balance to go askew.

The rope rocked back and forth, up and down, contorting in every way it could under the elder's grasp.

_Keep your center of gravity. _William focused, feeling his body correct itself whenever it started to lean to far in one direction. _Stay focused on the goal. _William could see the end of the rope quickly approaching, beckoning him to finish without falling.

William's feet touched the platform, they themselves having a feeling of disbelief that they'd made it across the tightrope without falling.

"Mr. Spears," Abery nodded, greeting him with her hands tucked behind her back. "You've passed the first lesson. Lesson two begins tomorrow. Have a nice day."

William nodded, watching Undertaker shoot him a glare while walking away with Constance, the man obviously upset about William passing the test.

_Now what?_ His mind asked but Spears quickly shook it from his mind, not wanting to worry about what was to come.


	13. Thoughts on a Couch

_Before this chapter is started off, I'd like to thank XxTheSirenxX for helping me with this chapter. I had serious writers block, and if she hadn't have helped me, this chapter would be non existent. So thank you!_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Thoughts On a Couch**

* * *

Undertaker sulked as he stalked back to his house, having just dropped off Constance at her house after William had passed the first test.

_Why the heck did she have to pick him?_ Undertaker sneered at his thoughts, still broiling with anger toward the success of the young reaper in training.

_He's so annoying! _Undertaker walked into his house and threw himself onto the couch in his living room, crossing his arms to pout.

"I know he's annoying, why Tansy puts up with it, I have no idea!" Undertaker agreed out loud with himself. He wished that William T. Spears would, just like any other student out there, want to quit after a week and a half.

He no longer had Constance to himself. Never, in his entire existence, had he ever been good at sharing- and he certainly wasn't willing to share the woman he'd been with for so many countless years.

Would the boy be taking away time from him that could be used holding his mate? Sitting with her and chatting idly? And… Undertaker focused from letting his mind wander absently. Yes. Spears would be taking time away from him… but only until he gave up and left.

_But what if he doesn't leave? What if passes the test? What then? _Undertaker sighed, suddenly tired by the idea of dealing with an annoying boy for the almost a year. It was the one thing he dreaded most every year, but every past year, the students filed in and out smoothly- leaving the couples lives as soon as they came.

But that was what hurt Constance. He hated how she would cry sometimes, not over the students' dismissals, but over the student she missed. Each student who had come lifted her hopes of redemption. And with hers lifted, Undertaker's would lift as well, he willing himself to believe that she would be happy again one day.

They would always leave after that. And every hope would come crashing down again. Of course they always climbed back to their feet for the next year, but after such a long time of dealing with no one willing to commit to training, the hopes had turned from climbing, to slowly peaking out, to locking themselves in a room and refusing to come out.

Undertaker had never been a nice man; he was a serious professional who held his job with high regard. He wasn't willing to hold small talk, he wasn't willing to be polite toward arrogant students, and he wasn't willing to be nice.

Constance on the other hand, had been a very nice person for a very long time. That's what made him fall in love with her. Her smile could make the angels jealous and when she laughed… but she hadn't laughed for a long time. Lots of things had hit her in the past. Hard. She wasn't willing to risk getting hurt again by false hopes and silent prayers.

But with William here, Undertaker could see her hopes starting to peak out of the room, poking it's head shyly out of the door and watching with anticipation for what would happen next.

_So what happens if he passes the test? _The question rang again. Undertaker shuffled on his couch, getting more comfortable to think.

_If he passes the test… maybe Tansy will smile again._ Undertaker felt a smile come across his face at the thought. He could tell; William wouldn't quit. Maybe that was why Constance chose him, because she knew he was strong.

_No._ The voice sneered, knowing the correct answer. _She chose him because he looks like John. John Abbot… _Undertaker had come to loathe that name. It was because of that boy that Constance was the way he was. But Undertaker couldn't deny the similar appearances between the two. Dark, brown-black hair; narrow, careful eyes, their faces had a similar shape even.

So was the boy a threat? No. The only way this new student could ever hurt Constance would be by dying… and that was something Undertaker had sworn a long time ago would never _ever_ happen again.

* * *

_So! What do you think? Who's this John Abbot, and what's he all about? I'd love to hear your thoughts- Because sometimes they help me think of new things to add to the story! So if you have something you want to see in this story, write a review or PM and let me know! I'd love to hear them!_


	14. Early Morning Introductions

**Chapter 14: Early Morning Introductions**

* * *

It was late April 1799.

_It's close enough to a year._ Constance shrugged, sitting in the training room while waiting for William to come in.

Training for the final test usually lasted from the last week of March, till November. While it was only eight months, the reapers usually settled for calling it a "year" of training. It was something she didn't mind.

_We're behind schedule._ Abery sighed. _The first lesson took three weeks! Ugh… lets hope that kid can keep out of trouble this time._

William walked into the room five minutes before eight, impressing Abery and proving that the mess up on the first day wouldn't be a regular thing. The lunchbox he carried at his side didn't go unnoticed by her either.

"Good morning, Ms. Abery." William bowed deeply, showing his respect before placing the black box by the bench they normally sat on.

"Mr. Spears." Abery nodded. "Let's get started… give me ten laps."

William nodded, jogging up the staircase they stood beneath before starting to run.

"Well, well… what do we have here?" Constance's indifferent mask twitched a single eyebrow in annoyance, hearing the voice behind her.

"Mr. Helier." Abery turned around, greeting the smooth talking, sly man in front of her.

Guy Helier smiled back in response to her formal acknowledgements. Sucking in his cigarette, he blew a cloud of smoke into Abery's face, watching her eyes close against it. His olive color skin and slicked back, black hair gave a suave look to the man. His green eyes were sharp and devious- eating Constance's figure up in front of him while he smirked, flashing his sharp teeth. His figure taking on a thin, straggly look, he reminded Abery of a fox, willing to betray and cut down whomever he needed to, to get what he was after.

"It's nice to see you this morning, but I believe that _I _asked for this room for today. It is the biggest of the training rooms and as such, the bigger the better and since I am obviously better- I deserve the best." Guy watched with amusement as the female reaper held her tongue.

Running footsteps passing above them signaled to the man that someone else was in the room and after watching the second floor for a second, he looked back at the other reaper.

"Do you still have a student?" Guy chuckled at his dark humor at the others expense. "Really, don't they all run away after a week?"

Constance swallowed hard, struggling to keep the words she wanted to say from spilling out of her mouth. She listened behind her as William walked back down the stairs, freezing at the foot of the staircase when he saw the company.

"Is this him? This scrawny brat is who you picked to teach?" Guy laughed, blowing another cloud of heavy smoke at Abery. He held up a hand, moving two fingers to motion for the male in question to approach. "Come here, boy."

William looked at Constance for support, stopping behind her and looking around her at the new reaper.

"Hey!" Helier's student laughed, pointing at William. "That's that kid I was tellin' you 'bout!"

Guy looked at William for a moment before laughing loudly, bending backwards to support his chuckles.

"Mr. Spears, do you know that boy?" Constance looked over her shoulder at the cowering student.

William nodded shamefully, feeling awkward being in the same room with the other boy.

"Would I be correct in assuming that this was the boy that you fought with two weeks ago?"

William nodded again, feeling grateful that his teacher always called it a fight- recognizing his attempt to retaliate than just degrading him and calling it an attack.

"Fought?" Guy chuckled, inhaling the smoke stick. "That little bug of yours was a little wimp- my boy here says he just cried."

Constance made no attempt to argue, knowing that it would only give Helier satisfaction to start a fight so early in the morning.

"Yeah." Adam chuckled, stepping forward and popping his knuckles. "Say, how about we go another round right here, Willy? Eh?"

"Without your gang to back you up?" William retorted, quickly closing his mouth as he wondered where that response had come from. Avoiding the bully, William slowly sank farther behind his teacher.

"Not today, maybe another time." Constance put an arm out to the side, preventing the other boy to get any closer.

"So, uh…" Guy stepped closer to Abery, pushing his student back as he approached. Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, _"Go get me a whisky"_, while eyeing his conversation mate. "Where's Undertaker?"

Constance twitched again. He was pressing all of her buttons… and he was starting to go over a line that wasn't meant to be crossed with her.

The door closed, signaling that Adam had left, leaving Constance and William alone with Helier.

"He at work?" The man smirked, inching toward the female, his eyes hungry.

"Mr. Helier, I would suggest you leave. I checked the list this morning for room rental and I know that your room is down the hall." Constance moved her arm behind her back, pushing William to get him to move incase anything lead to a physical fight.

* * *

William quickly got the message, moving away from the growing situation while he could. Looking outside to calm himself, he caught a glimpse of long gray hair, the man sitting across the lawn reading a book.

Sending a glance toward his teacher and the other mentor, he quickly left the room, hurrying down the hallways before exiting the building and running toward the figure on the bench.

"Mr. Undertaker, sir." William approached and felt the color drain from his face when a different man than he knew turned around. Looking again at the hair, it was shorter than Undertaker's and was a dull platinum blond.

"Mr. Spears." William looked toward the voice that called his name, seeing Undertaker looking out of an office window.

_Oh, yeah, Undertaker works at this time. He and Constance share an office. _William stared at him for a moment before setting out to say what he'd come to say.

"Mr. Undertaker, sir, there's someone in our training room. He… He's um…" William wasn't sure how to put the man's advances into words that wouldn't get him killed. "His name is Mr. Helier…?"

Undertaker straightened up, staring at William for another moment before nodding. "I'll be there in a minute. Go away." And with that, he closed the window, cutting the information relay to a halt.

* * *

"Mr. Helier," Constance held her ground, glaring at the man who was starting a second cigarette, offering her one in the process. "Leave, now."

"Oh, come on, babe! Undertaker's not here, you don't have to pretend you don't like me." Guy slipped his arm around her waist.

"I'm not pretending." Constance grabbed his arm and threw it away from her, bearing her teeth at the man.

"Oh, are you getting mad? That's cute." Helier moved to place his arm around her again.

A slow growl started in the back of Abery's throat as she turned toward the visiting reaper. The door opening and shutting seemed to be only heard be her as she did so.

* * *

William sat on the bench outside of the training hall, not wanting to go back into the room incase a fight had started.

Observing the people around him, he quickly saw Undertaker crossing the grass toward him, a scowl plastered on his face as he passed Will, heeding him no attention as he marched into the building.

* * *

"Oh, are you getting mad? That's cute." Helier moved to place his arm around her again.

Undertaker grabbed the man's collar, twisting his fist and pulling the reaper close.

"Is it cute when _I _do it?" Undertaker growled, glaring at Guy Helier. "I thought I told you to stay away from here."

"Yeah, well, I'm not to worried about what you say." Helier sneered.

Undertaker glared for a second longer before releasing the man.

"Thanks." Guy straightened his suit. "See you later, sweetie." He winked at Constance.

"Mr. Helier," Constance smiled, catching the younger reaper's attention. "I think you'll see less of me later."

"Oh?" Guy smiled, looking at her body again.

Undertaker watched her with growing alarm as she grew increasingly flirtatious.

A single, hard-fisted punch dug into the reaper's left eye, leaving him holding his face and Constance shaking her hand.

"Now get out- I need to train my student." Constance growled, stepping closer to Undertaker.

Helier growled, storming out of the room and down the hall, door slamming against the wall and being caught by William, who silently slipped back into the room- staring at the couple awkwardly.

"What are you looking at?" Constance snapped at Spears, sending Undertaker to sit on a bench. "Let's get to training!"


	15. Hand-Eye Coordination

**Chapter 15: Hand-Eye Coordination**

* * *

Abery dug around in her bag before pulling out a small ball and tossing it to William, who caught it with a questioning look.

"This lesson is about hand-eye coordination. If you're in a fight or need to do anything in general, you're going to need to be able to react easily." Abery lead William to a wall, taking the ball and throwing it before catching it again and returning it to her student. "Throw the ball and catch it until I tell you to stop."

William nodded, starting his task as the teacher walked away to sit back down with Undertaker.

"So, why don't you go back to work?" Constance grabbed his larger hand and held it in hers, watching him carefully.

"I already left. Why would I go back? I hate office work." Undertaker smiled, eliciting a small chuckle from Abery.

"So you're going to be here for the rest of the day?" Constance turned her attention back to William, watching him repeatedly throw the ball and catch it.

"That was the plan, dear." The male reaper replied next to her.

The couple sat together for a few more minutes, watching the student build up a sweat before deciding that it was time to up the ante.

"Mr. Spears," Constance stood up, leaving Undertaker on the bench again as she approached the young reaper.

"Go into the closet and get the basket of these things." Abery took the ball from his hands and pointed toward the closet she was talking about.

"Here." She tossed the ball into Undertaker's lap, sitting down again and waiting for her student to emerge from the small room.

"Bring it over here." Constance pointed to the area between her and the older male.

William did so, watching his mentor questioningly.

"Now go stand back behind that line." Constance looked at a line ten feet away.

"Now what?" William asked, stepping carefully behind the line.

Undertaker rolled the ball in his hand another time before lifting his arm and throwing it at the boy.

"Ah!" William ducked to the side, covering his head with his arms before peeking out to stare at Undertaker.

"Catch the balls." Constance shrugged, tossing one toward him.

William caught it, wondering why this lesson was so easy before realizing that both reapers were throwing the balls at the same time.

William's mind kicked into a semi-panic mode, rushing to catch all of the round objects before they could hit the floor.

Slowly, Undertaker and Constance picked up speed, impressed when William was able to keep up, even jumping to catch ones that went over his head and running forward to snatch up ones that didn't make it close enough to him.

"Alright, Spears." Constance nodded. "That's enough for today."

"But it's only been an hour." William looked at the clock on the wall, noticing that it was only nine o' clock.

"We still have to pick all of these balls up." Constance motioned to the training room's floor, covered with the small gray objects.

William nodded, stepping forward to grab one.

"Wha!" William slipped, sliding on a ball that he hadn't seen and flipping onto his back.

Constance raised an eyebrow at him before picking a ball up and tossing it into the basket a few feet away.

William gathered multiple, walking toward the basket.

"Just _what _do you think you're doing?" Abery scolded Spears, making him jump in surprise and drop the objects he had been holding.

"Br- bringing the balls to- to the basket…?" William stated but ended the sentence in a question, unsure of what he'd done wrong. She'd told him to clean up, right?

"Throw the balls in the basket from where you're standing." Constance gave more specific instructions, picking up another ball and throwing it into the basket.

Undertaker grabbed the bin, stabilizing it from rocking after the throw.

William threw a ball, watching it hit the side of the container and fall in.

Constance nodded before throwing two at the same time, both sinking in with individual _thunks_.

William accepted the challenge; throwing two- only one got in, the other going over the basket and rolling away past Undertaker.

The game continued, both reapers slowly cleaning up the room and challenging each other to distance and quantity throws.

William threw a ball, standing from the other end of the room. Both reapers watched the ball fly through the air before hitting Undertaker squarely in the chest and falling into the basket.

William's eyes opened wide, shrieking and running to evade the other male.

Undertaker growled, standing up from his spot and grabbing the ball, throwing it at Spears.

With a dull thud, it hit William in the hip, causing him to fall over with a groan while the ball rolled away, oblivious to the pain it inflicted.

Undertaker heard a single laugh; turning to stare at Constance he caught a glimpse of a quickly fading smile before she covered her mask of indifference again.

Within another ten minutes, the room was clean and looked as if nothing had ever happened in it.

"If you want to leave, you may." Constance shrugged at William, leaning into Undertaker.

"I don't have anywhere to be. If there's anything else you can teach me, I'd like to learn." William received a raised eyebrow of questioning from his teacher.

"Well…" Constance thought about what they could do.

"Ms. Abery! Mr. Undertaker!" A male reaper of short stature ran into the room, holding a note to deliver.

Undertaker silently took the note, reading it over before nodding to the man in thanks.

"It's a demon, it's been sighted in the human world near London. They need you to go get it." Undertaker explained.

"And you?" Abery questioned.

"It's not my mission." Undertaker shrugged.

"Well then, Mr. Spears, how about you come with me on this mission? You need to start learning what they're like anyways." Constance turned to William, waiting for an answer.

William nodded, not entirely sure what it would be like, but willing to try anyways.


	16. Of Demons and Reapers

**Chapter 16: Of Demons and Reapers**

* * *

"Hurry up, Mr. Spears." Constance ordered sternly, walking through the streets of London with ease.

William struggled to keep up, panting as he tried to avoid humans who were also walking along the street.

"Mr. Spears- they can't see us unless we want to be seen." Constance remarked. "They can't feel us either."

To prove her point, she stepped into the path of a man walking towards her, waiting indifferently as the man stepped through her without hesitation or reaction.

Spears' eyes grew wide, staring at the spectacle with horror and awe.

"Now let's go. A demon doesn't stick around for long, especially if it finds out that reapers are on its trail."

"So… reapers always go after demons?" William know it was a stupid question, but it was a question that had never been directly answered in school- if it was asked the teachers would always beat around the bush until they could switch topics.

Surprisingly, Abery was very open to answering the question.

"Reapers are allowed to go after demons at anytime. We're actually more rewarded for killing them than collecting souls sometimes." Constance explained. "Because it's a reaper's job to collect human souls and send them into the afterlife, it's also our job to protect them as much as possible.

"Demons eat human souls, therefore they are disturbing the protection and are allowed to be eliminated." William's teacher continued down the street, walking with purpose although she slowed down to make sure Spears could keep up.

"But, master, what if a human makes a deal with a demon in exchange for their soul?" William caught up to Constance, walking beside her.

"Once a human makes that deal there's nothing we can do. The soul is considered lost and therefore no disturbance of the demon needs to arise unless he's directly getting in your way." Constance continued talking, turning a sharp corner into a deserted alleyway with William questioning why as he followed.

"Unless we're disguised, demons are able to detect us apart from humans. If we make ourselves visible to humans it's _more_ possible to approach because we look like anyone else." Constance spoke. "Relax and think about it. If you do it right, you'll feel a change when the shift happens."

William did as he was told and slowly but surely felt a strange weight being added to him, making him heavier than before.

"Good. Let's go. Stay close to me." Abery exited the alleyway, now carefully weaving through the foot traffic.

Spears followed, keeping a weary eye out for anything different.

"Master!" William turned, grabbing the suit sleeve of a passing man suddenly, locking his grip onto the coat.

Constance turned around, observing the situation quickly and acting accordingly.

"Is this him?" William kept a firm grip on the gentleman's suit, balling his fingers tighter each time the man tugged to get away.

"No." Abery grabbed the back of her student's shirt and jerked hard, pulling him from the man he had captured while eliciting a yelp of surprise from the boy.

"I apologize for him, sir." Constance nodded her head, a very slight bow in the male's direction. Her eyes shifted around, noticing that people were starting to stop and stare at the spectacle before them; a woman causing trouble while wearing an absolutely outrageous outfit. Some of the women were even covering the eyes of their children.

_Great!_ Constance huffed, hating to be drawn out in a crowd.

The man's scowl loosened slightly at the sight of her bow and upon hearing her apology. The gentleman he was walking with simply stood behind him, watching on with curiosity and nervousness.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but make sure it doesn't happen again." The man scolded loud enough for everyone to hear.

Constance looked around, noticing that the crowd was now dispersing. Relieved, she offered the male another nod of thanks before talking again.

"He's still in training. This is his first time out." Abery spoke quietly, leaning toward the man who bent forward and offered his ear for her to speak into so that others around them wouldn't hear.

"Sorry for the bother. We're trying to find a Soul-Snatcher that was reported around here."

The man nodded discretely with understanding before straightening up.

"Yes madam, you should find what you're looking for down that way." The male pointed down the street. "Just hang a left once you get to the second corner and you'll see it on the up and up."

"Thank you, sir." Constance replied, turning to walk away with William in tow, his shirt still bunched in her hand.

"Oh! And madam," the man's eyes flashed from his natural green to a bright color of red that seemed to flicker darkly. "Keep that _pup_ on a _leash_!" He growled before tipping his hat, replacing the cover on his head when his eyes had reverted back to their hazel color.

"Will do, sir." Constance nodded again, quickly turning and hauling William away, leaving the two gentlemen behind.

"If you _ever_ do anything like that again, I'll reap you." Abery growled at Spears, making sure they were an adequate distance away before letting go of the back of his shirt.

"That was a demon!" William argued, afraid and not entirely sure what he had done wrong.

"Mr. Spears, there are two groups that demons can be roughly categorized into. One group is the Soul-Snatchers. They count for almost ninety percent of the demons we're sent to hunt. They gorge themselves on souls and eat as much as they can- as often as they can." Constance continued down the road.

"The second group is the Deal-Makers. They're the demons who only feed on the souls of humans they make contracts with."

"How can we trust the directions he gave?" William followed, questioning his teacher's methods of following a demon's instructions.

"Deal-Makers are more accepted in the reaper community. They despise Soul-Snatchers because they believe that they degrade the status of demons by hunting so crudely. Deal-Makers believe it's more honorable to work for food." His teacher answered. "As such, they are often very willing to assist reapers in ridding areas of snatchers."

"So the demon back there was a Deal-Maker?" William looked back, wondering if he'd still be able to see the demon. He couldn't.

"Yes." Abery confirmed.

"Be careful though, Mr. Spears; Deal-Makers are often the more powerful demons. They also follow guidelines like ours- to not bother reapers unless bothered first… but demons tend to have a shorter fuse for patience."

William nodded, understanding the warning.

_Don't bother Dealmakers unless bothered first- give them respect. Soul-Snatchers are bad. _William made a mental note to himself, as they turned left at the second street corner.

"Go back to invisibility." Constance ordered. William did so.

"Now come on, he's on top of the roof." Constance walked toward a tall building.

"How do you know?" William stared upwards.

"The demon told me. Usually they don't say anything outright in case someone hears them. But he said that they were on the up and up- that usually means that they're up above everything else, namely the roof." Abery explained quickly, stopping a few feet before the wall of the establishment.

"Spears," Abery turned and looked at William, very serious. "Under no circumstances can you leave yourself in the open. Stay behind me at all times and if the fight gets close, stay away. Understand?"

William nodded. "Understood."

"Good. Now grab my wrist." Constance offered her arm and upon him grabbing her, she locked her fingers around his wrist. "Hold on." She crouched before jumping, flying up through the air toward the roof with ease, William crying out with surprise beside her.

* * *

_If any of you are wondering, the reason Constance Abery was getting gawked at and people were reacting the way they were, it's because this is the late end of the 1700's. Women almost always had long sleeves on unless at home alone with their husbands (sometimes not even then). With her corset being short sleeved... let's just say that not even the prostitutes would have worn that little. This goes on top of the whole fact that women didn't even start wearing pants until the early/mid 1800's (and even then, they looked a lot like skirts and were only worn when riding a bicycle)._


	17. Dueling the Demon

**Chapter 17: Dueling the Demon**

* * *

Constance felt herself slowing down before she should have. Not used to the extra weight of jumping with a student, she realized that she wouldn't be able to clear the roof.

She reached her hand out, arm stretching as her palm scraped the ledge, searching for something to grab hold of.

William cried out again, fear filling him as he felt himself falling. His teacher's hand tightened drastically around his wrist, preventing him from falling.

Abery's fingers caught the ledge before she could slip off, muscles straining throughout her arm and shoulder to hold the weight of her and her student with nothing but her fingertips.

She muffled a pained grunt, biting her lip and holding Spears' wrist tighter.

Spears felt himself soaring upwards again as Constance pulled him up and threw him over the lip of the roof. He landed awkwardly, hitting his knees on the gravel top and rolling along the flat roof.

Constance latched onto the ledge using her momentum, hanging by both hands. Catching her breath, she quickly and easily pulled herself onto the surface gracefully, scanning the area for the alleged demon.

Her sights quickly focused on a figure staring at them with shock and anger, his befuddled form standing across the small rooftop.

William saw the demon turn toward them threateningly and he quickly set to work jumping to his feet and running to cower behind his teacher.

Abery stepped forward, her hand clenching to grasp a large scythe that had suddenly appeared with a wisp of air.

A long silver handle was the base of the large scythe blade. A shiny, polished bronze chain was wrapped around the handle, decorating it with a creepy and beautiful elegance.

The demon charged in a blur, moving faster than William could follow.

Constance swung her scythe up, a screechy metallic _clang_ echoing in the air as the long claws of the demon struck the blade of the scythe.

The woman pushed against the handle of the weapon, whipping the pole around and hitting the demon in the head with it.

William looked around for cover, his teacher no longer in front of him as she flipped over the demon, pulling the scythe back to catch the monster with the blade still behind him.

William ran across the rooftop, hoping to get far enough away that he'd be away from the fight entirely.

"Spears!" William turned around to look for his teacher, instead greeted with a shadowy figure almost on top of him, its sharp white teeth flashing with hunger and sin.

William fell backwards, tripping over his feet with his arms behind him to land. He felt a strong burst of panic strike painfully through his chest and head as the upper half of his body went over the edge of the building, his lower back hitting the small lip on the edge.

He pulled himself up to stare at his attacker in horror, unable to escape and hanging halfway over the side of a building he prepared himself for the worst, gritting his teeth and inhaling sharply.

The demon yelped, being batted aside by Constance before it could hurt him.

William tried to pull himself back onto the roof but found his shirt caught on something over the edge of the building, holding him in the strenuous position, completely exposed to anything that could happen.

The demon charged Constance, ducking under her scythe and swiping his claws at her face.

Abery jerked her head back to avoid getting scratched, her hair staying in it's place ahead of her.

The demon's claws cut a few strands of her hair, severing them, and caught Abery's silver chain, pulling it from her hair and tossing it away.

Constance stared at the flying chain in terror, not wanting to lose it although she had a job to do.

With efficient speed that beat the demon's, she pulled her scythe forward, cutting the demon from behind before swinging the blade around over her head and cutting it's head off, watching the silver film flow out in waves.

Not bothering to watch the memories, she moved her scythe again, striping the demon of it's life.

"Get up." Constance ordered, staring at her student who was bent backwards over the edge of the building.

"I can't… I'm stuck." William answered sheepishly, crying out when he felt her hand wrap around his tie and pull hard, blocking his flow of oxygen but also relieving him of his uncomfortable position.

He heard a long, deep sounding rip as she pulled, feeling a breeze hit his back and realizing with embarrassment that his shirt had been ripped wide open by the nail.

"Alright, let's go back." Constance stared over the edge of the building with unmistaken sorrow, not trying to hide her distress of losing her chain she kept tied in her hair.

She turned and started walking across the rooftop, listening as William followed her diligently.

"Master…" William prodded timidly, unsure of her mood.

"What?" Abery didn't turn around, unclenching her fist as the scythe vanished into thin air again.

"Did you lose this?" William still stood behind her but held his arm out for her to see, his hand delicately clenching a thin silver chain with a heart dangling on the bottom of one end and a hair clip attached to the other.

Constance stared at his hand in disbelief, not having expected him to have even seen it falling.

Stunned into silence, she instead nodded, gingerly accepting the token from her student and continuing to stare at it.

"If I may ask, ma'am," William studied her face, knowing that the object meant a lot to her. "What makes it so special?"

Constance placed the chain in her pant pocket, eyeing William for a moment before replying.

"Come with me… and I'll tell you."


	18. The Chain and the Tree

**Chapter 18: The Chain and the Tree**

* * *

"This way, Mr. Spears." Constance led him up a steep hill, boulders and tall, heavily leaning trees created obstacles, while slippery green patches of moss squished under their feet, threatening to make their feet slide out from under them at any moment.

Large, sheer walls of rock and soil created drop-offs that cut through the hill, forcing the reapers to scale them.

William panted hard, shirt continuing to fall apart while he strained his body to stay on pace with his teacher. It had been a while ago that his adrenaline had worn off, and a harsh, stinging pain had started to wear down on his back.

He placed the pain in the back of his mind and looked up the hill, seeing no end to the torturous climb.

Abery scaled a large cliff, climbing the vertical thirty-foot wall before disappearing over the top, patently waiting for her student to make the climb.

William groaned, staring up the jagged cliff with exhaustion.

Slowly but surely, he worked his way up the cliff, collapsing next to Abery when he made it to the top.

"Come on." Constance stood up, turning to continue through the woods.

William followed, wondering how much farther he could go before passing out with exhaustion.

He walked around a large bolder, blinking as a ray of sun suddenly hit his eyes. Slowly they adjusted to the light and widened with surprise.

A green meadow floated before him, the rolling hills of tall grass blowing in the gentle breeze creating the illusion of rippling waves.

On the highest hill of the area stood a strong, wide maple tree, its large branches covering a large area to provide shade.

The pair slowly made their way through the grass approaching the tree.

As they reached the cool shade of the plant, William noticed that the grass around the tree had been cut, the plush green growth he was standing on seeming extremely inviting.

Watching his teacher sit down, he sank into the fragrant plants, feeling relaxed from its softness.

Looking out around him, he saw a small, sparkling blue lake lying at the bottom of the hill they were on, the meadow becoming a field of lavender and honeysuckle flowers a little ways past the lake, painting the area in purple, red, orange, and white colors.

Turning his eyes from the breathtaking sight, he studied the tree he sat under, noticing a small heart carved into its trunk.

"This is Undertaker's and mine favorite place to go." Constance looked much more relaxed than normal, staring out over the lake while addressing her student.

"Where are we?" William asked, not remembering seeing any markings of any kind of life.

"We're in an area between the human and the reaper world. It's a gate to and from but it closed down a long time ago because other gates were made and offered easier access." Constance answered. "We liked the scenery, so we requested that the gate be turned over to us… now it's our area."

"So… what about the tree?" William asked, unsure of the large plant being randomly placed in the middle of the field.

"We planted it about a hundred years ago." Abery shrugged, glancing at it before turning back to the scenery.

William nodded, choosing instead to take in the beauty of the landscape.

Several minutes passed between them.

Spears zoned out, lulled by the breeze and smells surrounding him.

Constance noticed this and slowly started staring at him, studying him carefully.

_What do I do? He hasn't left yet… maybe he'll… _Constance felt her hopes peak out of their hiding spot and shook her head, shoving them away.

_But he could be… what if he really stays? _Her hopes continued to push on her heart, refusing to give up.

Sighing, she dug the silver chain out of her pocket and tossed it toward William to get his attention and bring the subject of the object back into his mind.

"It was a gift from Undertaker." Constance glanced at it again before looking out to the rolling hills of flowers.

William watched her, hoping for further explanation.

"It was probably close to three or four hundred years ago that it happened." Abery continued, answering William's wishes.

* * *

Constance Abery continued to shiver, sitting down in front of the well-built fire in her living room- sighing with embarrassment while thinking over the events of that night.

It was easily early morning by now. Undertaker hand her had gotten a letter in the early evening about a need for a demon to be eliminated, and the call had taken longer than either character had expected.

Being that it was the dead of winter and the fight had taken place on a bridge, it almost seemed obvious that someone was bound to fall off the structure… although she hadn't necessarily expected it to be _her_.

The younger reaper sighed again, pulling the blanket tighter around her body, hoping that her skin would soon change to a more natural color.

Falling into the river, her shirt had gotten ensnared on a submerged log, trapping her under the ice-laden water.

After reaping the demon, Undertaker had retrieved her from the frozen river. Returning her to her home, covering her with a blanket, and starting her fireplace, all without saying more than a single word before disappearing again.

The orange and yellow flickering light brought warmth to her body although she couldn't actually feel its heat.

Her eyelids were feeling unusually heavy, drooping down tiredly as she watched the fire dance in front of her.

Her front door opening and closing alerted her to the presence of another reaper, although she quickly relaxed when her mind recognized the distinctive footsteps of Undertaker approaching her from the side.

Sighing, he sat down next to her, crossing his legs as he took his coat off and tossed it on the floor, just wanting to get out of the soaked clothing.

After jumping into a frozen river, Undertaker had the pleasure of going out into the blizzard weather again to go to the office and file a report.

"How are you, my dear?" Undertaker stared at the female who was sporting a worrisome shade of blue on her skin tone.

Constance nodded, hoping that Undertaker wasn't in a bad mood due to the annoyingly long fight earlier.

"I got you um…" Undertaker readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, grabbing a small rectangular box from his pocket and thrusting it toward Abery unceremoniously. "Here."

Constance looked at the box with a tired but none-the-less surprised expression, slowly letting a hand creep out from under her blanket to clutch the polished wooden box.

She stared at it, not sure what it was or why he was giving it to her. The brown wood reflected the light from the fire, making the small black ribbon holding the box closed stand out even more.

"You can open it." Undertaker urged, feeling his clothes starting to dry and wanting to see Tansy's reaction to his present.

Slowly, Constance lifted her other hand from under the blanket, pulling the ribbon off and opening the box, startled by what was inside.

A shiny silver chain lay in the box, glowing in the dim light.

"I had it made a few weeks ago… but I couldn't get enough alone time with you to give it to you." Undertaker explained, slowly reaching around her arm and gently picking the chain up from it's box so the woman could see the whole chain.

A small heart, matching in color, dangled at the bottom, bringing a smile to Tansy's face over all the shock.

"It won't break, I had it made with the same material of the death scythes." Undertaker explained. "See, this end has a special clip, it goes in your hair." He slowly reached up, clipping the jewelry into her white, silky hair.

Constance smiled at him, still shivering but happier then before.

"We're grim reapers. We can't get married- so until the time comes in a few hundred years that we can retire, think of this as an engagement ring." Undertaker smiled, scooting closer to Tansy.

"Alright. Sounds like the perfect plan, dear." Constance chuckled.

* * *

"So he gave it to you as a gift?" William felt as though he was breaking through a new level with both his teacher and Undertaker. Perhaps the elder wasn't as cold and icy-hearted as he wanted everyone to believe.

"That's right." A voice came from behind him, sing-songy in tone as the hot air whispered across the back of his neck.

"Wah!" William jumped up from his spot, scrambling up and looking around before realizing that it had been Undertaker speaking.

Undertaker looked at him with a judging yet amused look, obviously entertained by his cowardly reaction.

William wasn't sure what to say as he sat back down, rubbing the back of his neck to get the feeling of Undertaker off. The old man had never acted that way around him- unless William was crazy (which he was pretty sure he wasn't) Undertaker had just been joking around with him.

"I was looking for you two. I wasn't expecting you to bring _him_ here." Undertaker spoke to Constance, once again ignoring William completely.

"He caught this," She threw the chain to Undertaker, "While I was fighting the demon."

Undertaker could see a tiny twinkle of something he hadn't seen for a long time flash in his mate's eyes. Happiness. Pride. Hope.

Undertaker stared at the chain and nodded.

"I don't think he needs anymore training on this level." Constance shared a silent debate with the male for a moment before turning her attention to William, who was sitting awkwardly between the couple.

"Congratulations, Mr. Spears, you've passed the requirements for finishing this lesson." Abery nodded. "And as such that we have nothing to learn for nearly a week, I'm giving you until Monday, off. You're free to do whatever."

William stared at her with shock, not believing his ears; passing the lesson _and_ getting the week off?

"Good job Spears!" Undertaker's voice shocked him further into an awestricken paralyzing stance.

Only once the slap on the back Undertaker gave him registered, did he realize the only reason behind the praise was to hit him exceptionally hard on the back, knocking the wind out of him instantly and bruising his upper back between his shoulder blades.

"Come on!" Undertaker growled, pulling the boy across the grass by the torn remains of his shirt until the student could find his feet to stand on. "This is no time to be sitting around gasping for air."

William shook the pain off with a huff, following the couple from the small oasis, excited about his time off and wondering if Alan would be available to hang out.

* * *

_Thank you guys for the awesome reviews I've been getting so far! They really mean a lot and sometimes are the only thing that keeps me wanting to write the next chapter! Till next time~!_


	19. Alan's Friend

**Chapter 19: Alan's Friend**

* * *

William arrived home to his small abode that evening. Bidding his teacher and her mate who acted as his tormentor a good day before wandering off to see if Alan was available to hang out with yet.

He walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch with a sigh when he saw that the room was empty. It was obvious that the apartment was empty, the only sound was of him breathing, and the air itself had settled down- undisturbed by anyone but him.

Slowly he drifted off to sleep, head bobbing a few times before succumbing to the heavy, inviting weight.

A loud bout of laughter woke him from his slumber. William jolted awake, shocked to see that the room had darkened considerably.

The door to his apartment swung open, allowing the loud gaffs to become a considerably higher decibel.

William stood up, walking toward the door as his mind took in the smaller figure of Alan, although a taller, broader figure stood behind him and a little to the side.

"Hello, Alan." William greeted, not wanting to scare the student by his presence.

Alan pulled the lantern he held in his hand, holding it in front of him while assessing who was in front of him.

"Hi, William." Alan smiled. "This is my friend, Eric." Alan stepped aside in the hall, allowing his friend to come forward to shake William's hand.

"Pleased to meet you, William. My name's Eric Slingby." The tall young man stepped forward, shaking Williams hand with a firm grip.

Eric stood about an inch higher than William, his suit wrinkled and tie undone. His hair was what struck William as the oddest though. Almost the whole head of hair was a bright golden yellow, except for the left side, which had an odd braid that exposed his scalp. William hadn't seen anything like it before.

"Alan was just coming back to show me around the place, is that alright?" Eric flashed a charming smile.

"Y-yeah… I guess so." William shrugged shyly, stepping out of the pair's way to allow them entry.

"So how much do ya pay for a place like this?" Eric walked around, looking into the rooms before finally coming to a stop on the pair's couch.

"Our mentors are paying for the flat." Alan answered, standing in the doorway in front of William, who was still trying to assess the situation.

"Sweet!" Eric laughed.

"So who're your teachers?" Slingby looked at the pair, glasses reflecting the light of the lantern as he did so.

"I have Theodore Eudo… William's stuck with Constance Abery." Alan answered again.

"Abery?" Eric sat up upon hearing that name. "_The _Constance Abery?"

William nodded, used to others reacting this way by now.

"You're stuck under the mentorship of the Silver Heart?" Eric shook his head pitifully. "You have my condolences William Spears."

"She's not that bad." William shrugged.

"Not that bad?!" Alan reacted. "You told me the first time you talked about her, that she was scary and it was easy to get her mad!"

William shrugged again, feeling his shoulders getting stiff from the constant action.

"She's not that bad anymore. She's nicer than before… and she…" William wasn't sure how to word his sentence without making her seem sappy. "If you know how she wants things done, she doesn't get mad too much."

"Well, it seems like you've got a good handle on things. Actually, as far back as I can remember, you're the longest a student has ever lasted." Slingby relaxed on to the couch again.

William nodded in agreement; not knowing of anyone who'd lasted as long as him. He felt a small swell of pride when he thought about that.

"Well, it's cool that you met Eric, William!" Alan smiled, noticing William's tired appearance. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

William shook his head as he yawned, knowing that he had the rest of the week off. "No. Why?"

"Because I want to introduce you to my teacher, Mr. Eudo. I think you'll like him. And I've told him a lot about you." Alan almost seemed to be jumping with joy, obviously having had a good day.

"Okay, yeah, sure." William nodded, feeling excited that he'd get to meet another teacher but still exhausted. The pain in his back was starting to get worse and he could feel that something wasn't entirely right, although he couldn't easily see.

"Cool!" Alan walked into the kitchen, grabbing two apples and tossing one to Eric before offering the other one up to William.

William shook his head. "No, I'm going to bed." He thought about his long day and sore back, knowing that he'd need a good night's rest to recover from the fight.

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Alan smiled, taking a bite out of the tree fruit.

William nodded before bowing out of the room, walking down the hall to retire to his room.

After crawling under the blanket and sheets, laying his head sleepily against his pillow, he drifted off to sleep, blankly listening to Eric chatter on about his newest girlfriend as his back throbbed in a painful but calming way.

_I have a feeling that Alan, Eric, and I will be good friends pretty soon. _William's mind was enveloped in darkness, excited about making new friends and meeting new people.


	20. The One Legged Reaper

**Chapter 20: The One Legged Reaper**

* * *

William and Alan passed through the doors of the records department, the heavy panels closing gently behind them as they entered the cool building.

It was decorated simply, and dimly lit, although William could see why as there was almost nobody in the lobby.

Looking up, William cold see four more floors, and by the look of the area he could see over the balcony of the second floor, they were gone because they were all in their own, individual offices.

"Over here." Alan motioned, waving Spears farther into the building, shoes clicking on the stone tile. "Usually the higher ranking reapers get the upper floors because the view from the windows is better, but because Mr. Eudo is… well… you know." Alan trailed off, leaving William remembering that the man had only one leg.

Alan knocked on a mahogany door, clear polish making the door seem more important than the others around it.

"Come in." A warm voice called from inside.

Alan opened the door and stepped inside, leading William into the sunlit office.

William looked around, surprised by the beauty of the office. A painting hung on the far left wall, the whole room was covered in a warm brown paint. William looked down and noticed a deep red rug, covering the wooden floor and leading up to a rich brown desk that reminded him a lot of Constance's.

"Hello, Alan!" The warm voice made William look up, staring at the man in front of him.

Theodore Eudo was a mid-height man, an inch taller than Alan, who was slightly aged. His white beard seemed to puff out and his hair, slightly longer than his shoulders, was tied back in a ponytail with a small gray ribbon. His face suffered from lines that were obviously made by his constant, inviting smile.

Alan bowed and shook the reaper's hand before the teacher's attention turned to William, the younger one being caught off guard by the happy twinkle in his eye.

"And who's this young lad?" He swung forward on his crutches, smiling as he approached Spears.

William stood, staring nervously at the reaper.

His shirt was a cream, button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up just past his elbows, a brown and red plaid sweater vest clung over top of that and the brown matched his pants.

The only thing that seemed different between a regular reaper and him (who reminded William of a grandfather… or maybe Saint Nicholas…), was that one pant leg swung freely, only being worn by the upper half of his thigh.

"I'm… uh…" William continued to stare at the swinging pant leg, knowing that it was wrong but not being able to take his eyes away.

"It's alright, many people are taken aback when they first see my leg… or lack there of." The man chuckled, drawing William's attention at last.

He was surprised to see that Eudo didn't seem put off that someone had done such a rude thing.

"This is my friend, William T. Spears." Alan took the liberty of introducing once he saw that the fellow young reaper was obviously still tongue-tied.

"Ah! Nice to meet you, William! Alan's told me a lot about you!" Eudo grabbed William's slightly raised hand and shook it firmly.

"Um…" William's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Are you alright with me calling you William?" Eudo released his hand, still looking at him warmly.

William stared at him blankly for a second before nodding.

"Great!" Eudo laughed warmly. "Well, as long as we're on a first name basis, you can call me Theodore." Eudo smiled and nodded before swinging back to his desk and sitting down, motioning for the pair to sit in the two padded chairs facing his desk.

William sat down with Alan, feeling considerably more comfortable with the teacher and even managing to shortly return a smile.

"I lost it in a fight with a demon." Theodore answered without a question, leaving William momentarily confused.

"My leg." He addressed. "I was over powered by a group and lost it."

William felt himself relax even more, some how taking comfort in knowing more.

"So, who's your teacher?" Theodore looked at Spears, a serious look on his face although his eyes still held their twinkle.

"Um… Constance Abery…" William answered shyly, not sure of how a teacher would react to learning of his misfortune.

"Ah! Yes, Constance." Theodore nodded understandingly. "She's a tough one to deal with sometimes, but how's it working out for you?"

William stared at him with surprise, not having gotten a reaction of understanding from anyone yet.

"It's uh… It's been really interesting. I've learned a lot over the last few weeks." William answered, unsure as to if that was what the man wanted to hear.

"Good, good." Eudo nodded. "When I was younger, she helped me out a few times while I was still picking up the ropes as a new reaper."

William understood, happy that someone knew her and didn't seem to fear her.

"Well, Alan, today was your day off for the week- why'd you come in?" Theodore turned to his brown-haired student, who seemed smaller in the large chair he was sitting in, his large glasses slipping down his nose occasionally.

"I wanted to introduce William to you." Alan gestured to the young reaper who had entered the room with him.

"Ah, I see." Eudo nodded. "Well, my schedule is actually fairly clear as well. I was planning on going to the training room to practice."

William stared at him in surprise. "You can still fight?"

"Not very well, no. I mostly just do office work, but it's nice to get out and know that you can at least defend yourself if anything goes awry." Theodore smiled, standing up from his desk and grabbing his crutches, which hung on a specially made peg next to his chair.

"Should we be going then?" Alan stood and turned; ready to leave his teacher to his day off.

"No, no, you can come with me. Actually, I was planning on meeting up with Constance and Undertaker." Eudo glanced over to William to assess his surprise- he was needlessly satisfied by William's raised eyebrows.

"I don't think they'll mind." Theodore reassured the young reaper in training, seeing the indecision in his eyes.

"Undertaker doesn't like me… he'd probably just throw me out." William answered, starting off in a normal voice and trailing off into silence.

Theodore Eudo laughed at this. "What you need to understand, dear boy, is that Undertaker doesn't like anybody. He never has. The only person he has any kind of tolerance for is Abery… and he gets snappy at her too sometimes."

After staring at William and assessing his worried silence for a moment he continued. "I think it would be better to go and be thrown out, than to stay here and find out that you missed out on watching your teacher train."

"Why would I want to watch my teacher train?" William questioned, figuring that she would just be walking on a tightrope and twirling a scythe.

"Well, it's a great way to see what she'll be teaching you… or at least what she'll give you the building blocks to be able to do." Theodore suggested. "And let me tell you this; Constance Abery and Undertaker are two of the most amazing people to watch train. I never get over watching them."

William felt his worry lift as Eudo's words sunk in, feeling energized and reassured by the teachers' words. Slowly he nodded, agreeing to traverse the lawn and go to the training building.

"Alright then!" Theodore smiled, swinging forward on his crutches before Alan grabbed the door and opened it for the reaper. "Let's go!"


End file.
